DA
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TABLE OF CONTENTS,
PAGE
I. — Memoir on a Mappemonde by Leonardo da Vinci, being the earliest Map hitherto known containing the name of America ; now in the Royal Collections at Windsor. In a Letter addressed to Augustus Wollaston Franks, Esq., Director, by RICHARD HENRY MAJOR, Esq., F.S.A. 1—40
II.— Observations on the Primitive Site, Extent, and Circumvallation
of Roman London. By WILLIAM HENRY BLACK, Esq., F.S.A. 41 — 49
III. — Further Observations on the Primitive Site, Extent, and Circum- vallation of Roman London. By WILLIAM HENRY BLACK, Esq., F.S.A. .... 50—58
IV. — Sketch of British and Roman London. By THOMAS LEWIN, Esq.,
M.A., F.S.A. 59—70
V. — Remarks upon Holbein's Portraits of the RoyalFamily of England, and more particidarly upon the several Portraits of the Queens of Henry the Eighth. By JOHN GOUGH NICHOLS, Esq., F.S.A. 71 — 80
VI. — Notes on several of the Portraits described m the preceding Memoir, and on some others of the like character. By GEORGE SCHARF, Esq., F.S.A. 81—88
VII. — Original Documents illustrative of the Administration of the Criminal Law in the time of Edward I. ; with Observations by FRANCIS MORGAN NICHOLS, Esq., M.A., F.S.A. - 89—105
VIII. — Remarks on a Portrait of the Duchess of Milan, recently dis- covered at Windsor Castle, probably painted by Holbein at Brussels in the year 1538. By GEORGE SCHARF, Esq., F.S.A., in a Letter addressed to the Earl Stanhope, President 106 — 112
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vi CONTENTS.
PAGE
IX. — An Account of Remarkable Subterranean Chambers at Trelo- warren, the seat of Sir R. R. Fyvyan, Bart., in the county of Cornwall. By J. T. BLIGHT, Esq. 113—118
X. — Royston Court House and its Appurtenances. By JOSEPH
BELDAM, Esq., F.S.A. - 119—137
XI. — On the Annulus Piscatoris, or Ring of the Fisherman. By
EDMUND WATER-TON, Esq., F.S.A. 138—142
XII. — On the unpublished work entitled " Antiquarius " by Hieronymus Bononius, of Treviso, and his Poetical Remains; including a Poem on the Revivors of Literature in the Fifteenth Century who were personally known to that Author. By WILLIAM HENRY BLACK, Esq., F.S.A. 143—156
XIII. — On the Churches at Rome earlier than the year 1150. By ALEX- ANDER NESBITT, Esq., F.S.A. 157 — 224
XIV. — History of Winterton, in the county of Lincoln, by Abraham de la Pryme ; with an Introduction by EDWARD PEACOCK, Esq., F.S.A., the owner of the original Manuscript - 225 — 241
XV. — Notes on Human Sacrifices among the Romans. By the Very Rev. HENRY GEORGE LIDDELL, D.D. Dean of Christchurch : communi- cated in a Letter to the Earl Stanhope, President - 242 — 249
XVI. — Memoranda on the question of the Use of Human Sacrifices among the Romans. By WILLIAM BODHAM DONNE, Esq. : in a Letter to the Earl Stanhope, President - - 250 — 256
XVII. — Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others. Communicated by C. KNIGHT WATSON, Esq., M.A., Secretary, in a Letter to A. W. Franks, Esq., Director 257 — 284
XVIII. — Notes on some Roman Architectural Remains discovered in the city of Chester, in the summer of the year 1863. By WILLIAM TITE, Esq., M.P., F.R.S., V.P.S.A.: in a Letter to Augustus W. Franks, Esq., Director 285—294
XIX. — On discoveries of Remains of the Roman Wall of London, by WILLIAM TITE, Esq., M.P., F.R.S., F.S.A. In a letter to Frederic Ouvry, Esq., Treasurer 295 — 306
CONTENTS. vii
PAGE
XX. — On the Mantle and the Ring of Widowhood. By HENRY
HAREOD, Esq., F.S.A. - - 307—310
XXI. — On an Inventory of the Household Goods of Sir Thomas Ramsey, Lord Mayor of London, 1577. By F. W. FAIRHOLT, Esq., F.S.A. 311—342
XXII. — Description of a Pocket-Dial made in~L593for Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. By JOHN BRUCE, Esq., F.S.A. : in a Letter addressed to the possessor of the Dial, Edward Dalton, Esq., LL.D., F.S.A. - 343—360
XXIII. — On the Position of the Portus Lemanis of the Romans. By
THOMAS LEWIN, Esq., M.A., F.S.A. 361—374
XXIV. — On the Identification of the Roman Portus Lemanis. By
WILLIAM HENRY BLACK, Esq., F.S.A. - 375 — 380
XXV. — On the worked Flints of Pressigny-le-Grand. By JOHN EVANS,
Esq., F.R.S., F.S.A., F.G.S. 381—388
XXVI. — Observations on some Documents relating to Magic in the Reign
of Queen Elizabeth. By W. H. HART, Esq., F.S.A. 389—397
XXVII. — Notice sur une ancienne Statue de Guillaume-le-Conque'rant,con- serve'e dans VEglise de Saint- Victor-V Abbaye (canton de Totes, arrondissement de Dieppe.) Par M. L'ABBE COCHET, Hon. F.S.A. - - 398—402
XXVIII. — On the Excavations at Silchester. By the Rev. JAMES GERALD JOYCE, B.A., F.S.A., Rector of Stratfieldsaye, and Rural Dean 403—416
XXIX. — Remarks on some Early Charters and Documents relating to the Priory of Austin Canons and Abbey of Austin Canonesses at Canonsleigh, in the County of Devon. In a Letter from CHARLES SPENCER PERCEVAL, Esq., LL.D., F.S.A., to Augustus Wollaston Franks, Esq., M.A., Director 417 — 450
XXX. — Instructions given by King Henry VI. to Edward Grimston and others, his Ambassadors to the Duchess of Burgundy, 1449 ; and Notice of a Portrait of Edward Grimston, painted by Peter Christum in 1446. Communicated in a Letter from WILLIAM
c
viii CONTENTS.
PAGE
J. THOMS, Esq., F.S.A., to C. Knight Watson, Esq., Secretary ; with additional Observations by A. W. Franks, Esq., Director, and George Scharf, Esq., F.S.A. 451—454
Notes on Edward Grimston, Esq., Ambassador to the Duchess of Burgundy. By A. W. FRANKS, Esq., Director 455 — 470
Observations on the Portrait of Edward Grimston, and other Portraits of the same period. By GEORGE SCHARF, Esq., F.S.A. : in a Letter to W. J. Thorns, Esq., F.S.A. 471—482
XXXI.— Description of Ancient Rock-Tombs at Ghain Tiffiha and Tal
Horr, Malta. By Captain JOHN S. SWANN, F.G.S. 483—487
XXXII. — On the Human Remains, and especially the Skulls, from the Bock-Tombs at Ghain Tiffiha and Tal Horr, and from other places in Malta. By JOHN TUURNAM, Esq , M.D. F.S.A. 488—500
XXXIII. — On the Discovery of a Romano-British Cemetery near Plymouth.
By C. SPENCE BATE, Esq., F.R.S. - - - 501—510
LIST OF PLATES.
PLATE PAGE
I. Mappemonde by Leonardo da Vinci, Northern part II. Mappemonde by Leonardo da Vinci, Southern part III. Site of Roman London, and the Roman Ways leading to it 49
IV. Portrait of Christina Duchess of Milan, from a painting in
Windsor Castle 106
V. Portrait of Christina Duchess of Milan, from a painting in
Arundel Castle 110
VI. Subterranean Chambers at Trelowarren, in the county of Cornwall 11 1 VII. Royston Court House and its appurtenances VIII. Architectural details from Churches in Rome
IX. Doorway of Chapel of S. John Baptist, Lateran - 100
X. Door in Chapel of S. Zeno at S. Prassede 191
XI. Windows, &c. in Churches in Rome XII. Windows in Churches in Rome -
XIII. Bronze Railings in Cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle -
XIV. Ornamented Slabs from Churches in Rome 206 XV. Plan of Roman Remains at Chester
XVI. Suggested Plan of probable state of Roman Temple and Baths at
Chester 29°
XVII. Remains of Wall of London discovered near Cooper's Row XVIII. Dial of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex XIX. Plan of Romney Marsh as it was in the time of the Saxons 3G9
XX. Flint Cores from Prcssigny-le-Grand, Indre et Loire
XXI. Flint Implements from Pressigny and the Seine • 387
XXII. Statue of William the Conqueror, Saint-Victor-l'Abbaye- 400
XXIII. Plan of Silchester within the Walls 404
XXIIP.Ground Plan of Block I., Silchester - - 405
x LIST OF PLATES.
PAGE
XXIV. Ground Plan of Block III., Silchester - KHi
XXV. Hypocaust and Floor in Block III., Silchester - 408
XXVI. Portrait of Edward Grimston, Esq., 1446 458
XXVII. Arms and Inscription on Portrait of Edward Grimston - 459
XXVIII. Plans and Sections of Tombs at Chain Tiffiha, Malta 483
XXIX. Plan and Sections of Tomb at Tal Horr, Malta 486
XXX. Bronze Mirror and Handles and Iron Shears found near
Plymouth 502
XXXI. Antiquities found near Plymouth 503
XXXII. Pottery found near Plymouth - 504
XVII. — Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others. — Commu- nicated by C. KNIGHT WATSON, Esq. M.A. Secretary, in a Letter to A. W. Franks, Esq. Director.
Communicated January 30, 18C2, and April 30, 1863.
MY DEAR FRANKS,
THE following Letters need but little introduction on my part. They may be left to tell their own story, and may be useful to illustrate or to correct the history of the period to which they belong. I am indebted to one who is most conversant with that history * for the headings prefixed, within brackets, to such of the letters as seemed to him to require some such elucidation. For the letters themselves, and for permission to transcribe them, the Society is under obligations to Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and in particular to the courtesy of the Rev. Frederick Chalker, who filled the office of Librarian at that college in the year 1861, when I was allowed access to the valuable collection under his charge. The volume containing them is thus designated in Coxe's Catalogus Codicum MSS. qui in Collegiis Aulisque Oxoniensibus hodie adservantur. Pars. ii. 160, " cccxviij. Codex Chartaceus, in folio, if. 229, sec. xvij. Ricardi Davis de Sandford Collccta- neorum volumen secundum." The series of Wotton Letters is immediately preceded by one from Henry VIII. to Secretary Knight b. So far as I can ascertain, the letters here published are unedited. Their number might easily have been increased from other quarters, and especially from the Collection of State Papers in the Record Office. The present specimens, however, go far to cover the ground occupied by the writer in his diplomatic capacity at Venice and the Hague, while the last of them gives us a glimpse into his private life.
Sir Henry Wotton was ambassador at the Hague, it will be remembered, for a few months of the year 1615, and was thrice appointed ambassador to Venice, viz.,
• Samuel Rawson Gardiner, Esq. author of the "History of England, 1603-1616." b Printed in Proceedings, 2nd series, vol. ii. p. 262. VOL. XL. 2 L
258 Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others.
in 160-1, 1615, and 1G21. Though historical compositions would themselves be cramped for space, and otherwise unseasonable in the pages of the Archoeologia, the materials of history come distinctly within the scope of the operations for which the Society of Antiquaries was founded. On this ground I abstain from attempting to give any general view of the condition of Europe and the policy of England, at the time when Sir Henry Wotton was so disheartened with the one and so discomfited in his endeavours to carry out the other. Such a view must be looked for elsewhere, and will certainly be seen with greater distinctness by one who has the assistance of these letters in pursuing the inquiry.
Believe me, My dear Franks, yours very truly,
C. KNIGHT WATSON.
I. — JAMES I. TO SIR HENRY WOTTON.
[A transcript.]
[July 16, 1606.] JAMES REX.
Trustic and wclbclovcd wee greete yow well Suche and soe manic are yor dispatches wth wch our Sccretarie dothe acquainte us beinge directed to him wth other in particuler to our ownc Person that wee thinke it not sufficient onely to acquainte yow by his Relation wth owre extraordinarie approbation of yor zeale faithe and discretion wthout the confirmation thereof under owre ownc hande assuringe yo* that they are not onely acceptable to us for the watchful eye yo* have towardes cure saftie and the good of our state but are so interlaced wth variety off occurents remarkeablc and proper for Princes whose state is subject to the envy of equalls, and whose con- stancie in Religion is more then a moate in the eyes of the comon adversarie As wee doc acknowledge that wee rcade not anie forraigne Dispatches from any our Ministers wth better con- tentation. Procedc therefore as yo" have bcgunnc, and knowc yow serve a prince that can both judge of meritt and make demonstration when time shall serve. Given under oure signe at oure Manor of Greenwiche, the 16th day of Julie, 1606, in the fourthe yeare of oure raignc of Great Brittan France and Irclande. Superscription,
To oure trustie and welbeloved Sr Henry Wotton,
Knight, oure Ambr Resident wUl the state of
Venice. [7/i dono] K. Jam. 1C Jul. 1COC.
Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others. 259
II. — SIR HENRY WOTTON TO JAMES I.
[The following letter was written apparently in the summer or autumn of 1606. It contains speculations on the part which would be taken by Henry IV. of France in the quarrel between Pope Paul V. and the Venetians on the subject of the claim made by the Republic over criminal priests. In February, 1607, Henry offered his mediation, and finally gave a decision, which was, in all important points, in the Pope's favour.]
MAY IT PLEASE YOUR MOST ECCELLENT MAJESTY
Your Majesty and the Kinge of Spayne having already declared yr resolutions in the present cause, It now remayneth to see what the French Kinge will doe. Of the French Kinge there are foure different opinions.
1. That he will assist the Pope.
2. That he will assist the Venetians.
3. That he will assist both the Pope and the Venetians.
4. That he will assist neither the Pope nor the Venetians.
Which have all foure through his ambiguous proceeding had tyme to growe, and to bee con- firmed also wth some arguments more or lesse in theire gcnerall fancies that have conceived them.
Whereof though I have formerly rendered unto yr Majesty such a poore account as I had then understoode touchinge only the first yet I will now (wlh your gratious leave) resume the psumption to lay downe before yr high wisedome in one view the reasons againe (wth some increase both of that and of the rest) as I have heerc taken them uppon the place.
For the first that hee will assist the Pope. It is grounded heere upon these considerations.
That the sayd kinge is olde, and his heire a child, and the legitimation questionable.
That he will seeke to leave his estates quiet and rich.
That he cannot fall from the Pope w"'out breaking wth Spaine.
That of the two the partakinge w"' the Venetian is the more chargeable ingagement.
That the Jesuites have much hold of him.
That the Venetians were over secure or rather supine in the begininge suffring him to bee poccupatcd by the Pope's instruments.
That Monss de Villeroy continueth in his ambition of a cardinalship, and doth governe the dispatches wth much advauntage, having his sonn resident in Rome.
That the French Ambassador heere is (though a gentleman otherwise of a good conscience) yet the converted of a Jesuite.
That the French Queene is of a name dignified by Popes, and herself a devotious Romanist.
That the sayd king hath taken advise to increase his party in the consistory and thereby to ballance the Spanish grcatnes.
As for the conceit that came before of his affectingc the Empire by the way of Rome It is now growne hcerc not only cold but (under yr Ma'*6" pardon of my playncs) almost ridiculous, as if the Germans could bee wrought to suffer a revolution of the Empire to the Francks or that it were fitt to choose a Kinge of the Romans to succeed the Emperor as old as the Emperor himself.
2L2
260 Letters from Sir Henry Wot Ion to King James I. and others.
For the second opinion that he will assist the Venetians, the Venetians seem to stand in hope of his assistance three wayes, by benefitt, by promise, and by reason of state.
The first hereof they urge somewhat tenderly in there discourses as conteyning a sylent ob- trusion of ingratitude and of his former, need of there frendship even when the King of Spayne that is now but obliquely theirs was directly his enemy,
His promise of succouringe them in their necessityes they ptend not only to bee included at large in the generality of confederation, but to have been confirmed unto them after his troubles wth his corselett wch he sent them as a pledge thereof accompanied wtu these words, that he would on occasion of there service passe the mountaynes and re-arme himself heere, in wcl' respect they have preserved it wth inscription much to that purpose amonge the rare and memorable monuments of there citty.
The reasons of State or considerations of his owne conveniency wch they conceive to bee more obligatory than other benefitts or promises are these : —
That their controversy wth the Pope is the roote of all sovcraignty and the common cause of Princes.
That it hath a particular conformity wth the liberties and exemptions of the church of Fraunce.
That otherwise he shall preiudge his ownc ptence and right to the kingdome of Navarra, wch his great-grandfather lost by an excommunication.
That without the subsistaunce of this state the Kinge of Spaynes grcatnes will want a counter- poise in Italy.
That the cause is favoreable both to the Papists and Protestaunt of his kingdome and no feare of division.
That hee hath a faire occasion to open againc the passage of the Vale Tolina by conjunction w01 the Venetians and Grisons and Protestant Cantons.
That hee can never make any sound foundation upon the friendship of any Pope whose nephewes draw out soe smale benefitt from that crowne.
That lastly he may keepe Rome alwayes in sufficient awe of him for the working of his owne designes even wth the feare of loosing the temporalities of Avinion, wlh the wch reasons they have (in ernest or sport or cunninge) beene contented to cherish themselves so farr as to say that if the Dolphin should come hither wtu any contrary affirmation they would crave pardon not to belecve him.
The third opinion is that he will assist both the parties, the one wth Papists, the other wth Hugonots, cither connivency as he feedeth the troubles of Flaunders or otherwise: an opinion grounded partly upon his ownc speeches unto the ministers on both sydes wch have beene ambigu- ous, and such as hee seemed willinge they should each of them coaster [tic] to there advantage, and nartly upon the cariage of his owne instruments both heere and at Rome who have beene noted amonge there propositions of reconcilement to intermingle (as it were casually) certayne aggrava- tiations [sic] of the case both on the one syde and on the other to make the parties more sensible. And I must humbly protest indeed unto yr Majesty that to all whome I have hetherto heard speake herein it hath seemed a strange position that a French King should seeke the disincombringe of Italy, having so oportune a meanes to embarque the King of Spayne in more busines, and besyds to spend and vent the unquiet humors of both religions out of his owne estate.
Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James L and others. 261
The last opinion is that he will assist neither the one nor the other, but conserve himselfe neutrall and expect accidents. Upon wch they discourse thus —
That so hee shall save both his honor and charges.
That it shalbee alwayes seasonable enough to enter when either of the parties arc in extremity.
That hee hath fitt excuses for both : As to the Pope his former obligations and confederacy with this State; to the Venetians that hee is II primo figliuolo delta chiesa, for so the Pope styleth him.
That hee hath likewise just expostulations wlh both, as there, the oppositions against him from Sextus Quintus to the latter end of Clement the eight, and heere, that partly by the auncient leagues of this State against Fraunce and partly by there late irresolution in suffering the fort to be built in the Vale Tolina, the French have not only lost all there possession in Italy but almost all possi- bility of reentrance.
That for the French King's interest in the conservation of this state it shall not need much to trouble him, the Venetians having never beene so potent as at the present ; and the Kinge of Spaine (upon whom the Pope maketh principall foundation) being so entangled in his owne neces- sities ; besydes the likelyhoode that some the smaler princes (the Dukes of Mantua and Modena) will at the least stand neutrall.
Finally, that if the French Kinge can by his instruments foment these differences and keepe him self free, it will in all probability prove a subject of warr betweene the Kings of Great Brittanny [sic] and Spaine (beinge both declared) to the notable advauntage of France.
Thus have I out of yr Majestys so gratious acceptance of my former psumptions taken also now the liberty of a playne servaunt to entertayne your Eccelent minde wt!l the discourses of this place upon a kinge who hath hetherto (as one them [sic] sayd) beene liker an oracle then a frend : most humbly leaving unto your great wisedome (as doth become the weakenes of myne owne capacity) the judgment of the event. Only I cannot forbeare ("wth your Majcstyes pardon) to note herein that amonge the severall reasons and inducements of this or that Prince into the cause, I have yeat heard nothinge so litle considered as the goodnes of the cause itself: religion having surely in this part of the world (as far as I can see) no more estimation as a point of conscience, but yett keeping still some credite as a point of state.
And so wlh the continuall harty prayers of this poore family unto the God of Heaven for the longe preservation of your Majcstyes most deare and sacred person and estates wee humbly pros- trate our selves at your royall feete.
Your Majestyes most faythfull poorc servant.
POSTE. — Your Maj''e receaveth the present by a confident Messenger whome I have directed to my Lo. of Salisbury upon other occasion of yr very important and secret service.
[In dorso.~\ 1606.
From Venice.
To his Matic from Sr Hen. Wotton.
262 Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and otliers.
III.— SIR HENRY WOTTON TO JAMES I.
[September [?] 1614.]
[This and the three following letters were written during AVotton's short embassy at the Hague, and form a part of the same series of letters as those preserved among the State Papers at the Record Office.
The two pretenders to Cleves and Juliers, the Elector of Brandenburg and the Palatine of Neuburg, quarrelled with one another. The former, with the aid of a Dutch garrison, established himself in Juliers; the other took possession of Diisseldorf, and having declared himself a Catholic, called for the aid of Spain. Spinola, at the head of an army of 21,000, made himself master of Wesel, but he was prevented from over- running the whole territory by Count Maurice and the Dutch, who held against him Rees and Emmerich with the neighbouring towns. Prolonged negotiations followed, with no satisfactory result ; in which Wotton represented England, and urged in vain that both armies should mutually agree to withdraw from the Duchies.J
MATE IT PLEASE YOUR SACRED MAJESTIE.
Among the papers that we lostc in the fatall passadgc of my Sccrctaryc, there was a letter unto your Majestic which if I doe not revive, my harte will brcake. as vessells that are stopped from vent when some thinge boyleth in them. The person whom it concerned was my self. The subject was the Towne of Wesell. The essential question is, by whose default it was lost. Wherein if I doe not satisfie your Majestic I desire never more to behold the face of so juste a Kinge nor of any honest man. But before the rest it shall be fitt to repeate these wordes, which I rcceaved in a letter from Mr. Sccretarie by your gratious commandement.
Now (sayeth he) from his Majestic I am to acquaint you with a reporte which your laste letters en passant doe touche, but which to him hath bin confidently delivered, that is, the States had with as much vigilancic and expedition prevented the surprise of Wesell, as after they did of Ecez and Emerick, had not you, with much assurance, often engaged yourself that the Marquis Spinola would not attempt uppon that Towne, which bruyte, though his Ma"c cannot easily beleeve, etc.
First, I was bounde unto your Matie for this particuler advertisement, For though I hadd heard before of some suche voice bestowed uppon me, yet I could gather it to noe head. Next, I yeeld your Ma'ic most humble thankes for the asservation of your belecfe, which I rcceavc as an argument of your favour towards me, though it be a peece of your ownc usuall and naturall cquitie. As for the matter itself, I conceave one special comforto in it. That they who told your Ma"c how Wescll was lost be my securinge of the States would perchaunce likewise have sayed that I sould the Towne to the Archecluckes, if my honestic had been as questionable as my discretion. But these and the like aspersions are the propper badges of publicq servants especially in Democraticall regiments. Whereof both reason and examples might easily be given, if it did not more concerne me at the present to rectifie my poore estimation with your Matic then to searchc the nature of the place Therefore, for myne owne dischardge, I doe hcere humbly protest unto yor Matie, before the author of all trueth, that I never engaged myselfe either to the States in generall or to anie single man dead or alive, either by probabilitie or conjecture, or in the least
Letters from Sir Henri/ Wotton to King James I. and others. 263
imaginable tearmes, that the Marquis Spinola would not attempt uppon the Towne of Wesell. Soe farre was I from often assuringe them thereof as some Vorstian Spirit hath traduced me. For I beseache your Matie to give me leave to aske a few questions in myne owne case. Howe could I give them any such assurance or whence should I take it? Did I bring any suche com- mission from your Matie? Did I finde any at the Haghe? Did Spinola make me his secretarie ? or the Archduke his confessor? Had I practised the world with such simplicitie to trust Italians or Spaniards in a poynt of theyre advantage? Have I purchased before so little credit in the cause of the Religion? Have I been bounde to your Majtie soe longe for your confidence (where in I joye more then in youre benefitts) and should I nowe betraie it ? Did I sende any letter? Did I receave any message that might concernc the mayne service where with they were not heere particularly acquaynted? And is this a state to be stayed or stirred soe lightly by private conceytes ? God let me not live if I be not confounded more with wonder then with other passion at the monstruous birthe of this senselesse rcporte.
True it is indeede that, at my second audience, I wished them by way of discourse ten daies before there was any doubt of Wesel, and twentic before it was taken, not to collect their troupes till more evident necessitic pressing them rather to a resolution about Juliers (which was focus febris), and doubting that if the Marquis should beseege that place or sceke to blocke it upp and they oppose him with a formed armie, it might hazard rupture, which was against the gencrall scope of myne errand : and Monsr Barnevcld himself (who tendreth the present quiet) did advise me, the evening before my said audience, to use some such speeche (as I did) unto them. Some weeke after this or thereaboutes (for I do not precisely remember the day, nor thought I should ever neede to recorde it) Monsr Barneveld, Sr Joachim of Zcland, and one Licklama of Friseland, were deputed to conferr at our howses with Monsr du Maurier and myself. At which they asked owre opinions more respectively then necessarily whether we thought it fit for them to marche, the rumors being then much encreased, by a biedge [sic, qu. bridge] of boates that was buylte at Bergh, wherby it was concluded that the Marquis intended to pass the Rhone. Did we resist it? I remitt that to them selves. Did they ask us perhaps too late? We are not soldiers by profession, but thus much wilbe bold to pronounce, that Wesel might alwaies have ben saved in one dale i'rom anie of the neerer garrisons of Arnhem, Zutphen, Ncwmegen, or Skincksconce, as well with an handfull of the States' men as with an armie (if the question had ben onely to save Towncs and not to take Townes), or otherwise the Marquis might have broken the Truce, to which poynt they putt him in diverse other places. Was there then no collour of raysinge this voice? I have searched my papers and myself and I finde onely a letter from Mr Trumbal yr Ma'"1' agent unto me in answere of one which I wrote with knowledge and approbation of the States. Wherein he spcaketh of suspense or intermission of some fowre or five dayes which he had with much a doc obteyned of the Archduke Albertus in a privat audience which whether it were performed or noe (as the Counte Maurice by precise computation denieth) is now a needelesse inquiry. Mr Dicken- son can informe your Matic how farre I pressed the Marquis and Monsr Pechius the Archdukes rcpresentant therein. And sure I am that howsoever Mr Trumball did relate hether what he had donne with suche caution as did not staie them in their proceedings heere the running of an houre glasse. There remaineth therefore only the question how the Towne was losst? which might
264 Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others.
easily have ben saved as appereth by the premisses. Wherein not to kepe your Matie longe from the solution of this mistery (for soe I might call it the matter being indeed wrapped in a few cloudcs of State) what is there more to be saied then peccatum tuum in te Israel. The Towne of Wesell, notwithstanding their long engagement to the Dutchie of Cleves, seekinge under pretence of impartialitie betweene the twoe Princes to maintaine it self in the nature of a free and Imperiall Towne, or as neere as it might bee1, much animated with therre new fortifications and little considering the difference between the Burghers and Soldiers, not distrusting their enemyes and perhaps jealous of their freindes. Lastly, willinge enough to be helped without but not within, . did not only seeke no helpc from whence they might best have hadd it, but likewise refused the assistance of the Colonell Schombergh, who offered very nobly and timely to levie and to mayn- tayne a Regiment one moneth uppon his ownc chardge, for their defence, in noe other qualitie then as a gentleman of theire owne intertainement.
Theise were the circomstances and this was the trueth of that action on my conscience to God and my fayth to your Majestic. Wherewith I did chardge both the Towne it selfe at my being there and the states of the Provinces when they came unto us aboute theire immunities at Zanten. Where I acquainted them with your Matic* Eoyall declaration of your self on theire behalf though a little too late by the fatality of theire owne folly which I likewise have made knowne in all Towncs and to all persons where I have passed and though I am ashamed to seeke withness [sic] for the dischardgc of so vile an imputation and to borrow credit with your Matlc extra me ipsum, yet for the better proofe of my sinceritye (which was all the inheritance that my good father left me) I most humbly bcseeche your Matie to informe your selfc of the Ambassador of Brandenbourg, nowe comming to your Cowrt, whoe hath understood from Monsr Barnevelds one mouthe the trueth of this affaire.
I am now confident, notwithstanding my disasters, to have performed all my duties to your Matie, and I was infinitly comforted that Mr Secretairy, when by your commaundement he acquainted me with this reporte, did with the same penne assure me that your Malic had under- taken my cause at home in that poor expectative which I held by your former goodnesse. It was a duble favor in your Matie both to doe it and to doe it towards one that stood in such obloquie by which you have boundc eternally unto you besides my other naturall and longe devoted duties
Your most humble
And loyall servant. [7n dona.'} 1615-14.
To his Ma"0 King James from Sr Ilenrie Wotton, about the losse of Wesell,
Surr. 5 Sept. 1614.
Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others. 265
IV. — SIR HENRY WOTTON TO NICHOLAS PEY.
[Signed only; Postscript in Holograph.]
[March fg; 1615.]
S',
I am so tyred wth the publique dispatchc y* I must take the libertie to ease both you and my self wh a better hand. This is only indeed to thancke you for suche letters as I have here- tofore receaved from you, wch were full of love and good advertisement. I was tender to answere them while I stoodc under blacke reportes, but you male now receave my letters wthout anie feare of contagion. For I am purged of my leprosie, havinge receaved my assoilement from the Kinge him self. Soe you sec howe the world is chaunged wth me, that whereas hearetofore in some mans favorable voyce I was perchaunce allowed the pretence of a little merit, I anie nowe faine to bragge of innocencye. Well, Sr, I will neither trouble you nor myself anie more wth these discourses. The substanciall pointe is to have money. For without that bladder we cannot swymme. I praie sollicite my Lorde Treasorer for me according to those notes that you shall receave from this gentleman. And soe, Sr, reckonninge myself for many kindenesses muche beholden unto you, I rest
Youres to serve you
HENRY WOTTON. Haghe this 20th of Marche 1614.
I take it unkindely that you who were wont to make many startes over into thease Provinces have stayed that humor since my beeing heare. Well, God send us any where chearefully together.
You will easily pardon me that I now write no more unto you, for I heare you officers of the Grcenclothc arc angric and troubled.
[In (torso.] To my very worthie
frcnd Mr Nicolas Pey,
at Court. 20 Martij, 1614,
Sr Henry Wotton, from the Haighe.
V. — SIR HENRY WOTTON TO [NICHOLAS PEY?]
[A Transcript.]
[June? 1615.] SIR,
Having not long written unto you whose frendship towards me hath given you a great interest in my proceedings I will now make you a summarie accoumpt of what I have donn abroade.
VOL. XL. 2 M
266 Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others.
The King hath employed me sence my last comming foorthe in fowre sevcrall Treaties differring in the subjects, in the instruments, and I thincke more in the affections and ends. The first was unto the States for the sequestration of the Castle of Juliers wherein I was joyned with the Frcnche ; the second (which we call the Treatie of Xantcn springing from the first) was for the settling of the Prince of Brandenbourg and Counte Palatin of Newbourg in a kinde of provisionall compossession of the litigious provinces with some forme of regiment both in matters ecclesiastical and civil, wherein we were troubled to finde a measure betwcene theire consciences, especially the Palatin, being a new convertite to the Roman churche, and the more eager to shew the synceritie of his devotion. In this Treatie we were no lesse then thirtie Ambassadors and Commissioners ; so as contrary to the complaynte of the Gospel the labourers were more then the Harvest. The third was for a defensive league betwcene the united Princes and the united Provinces wherein I was joyned hcare with two Representants of the Union. And this was concluded with unimaginable celcritie, partly through his Malies mediation, who was the sole moover, and partly by the qualitie of the tymc, wich being a little turbulent did require at least some good noysc of frends. The last was for the composing of certain differences betwecne his Maj1'13 subjects and this people in matter of Commerce, which Treatie did exceed all the other three both in length and difiicultie, for two reasons as I conceave it : First, through the sensiblenesse of the subject which was privat utilitie ; next, because it had likewise some commixture of publique respects and those of no slight conse- quence, for surely it importcth more to let the King of Spaync dispense alone the whole commodi- ties of the East then cache of us to wante them. Of the issue of owre dcbatements therein my worthic coinpagnons Mr Clement Edmondes and the other two have rendrcd his Matle an accoumpt. For my part me thought we did some what resemble in our labours those weomcn of Nombrc dc Dios, who as they saye arc never brought to bed in the place where they conceave but produce their childern in a better airc. And so perchaunce it may fall oute with owre conceptions to be perfected in his Mutius Kingdome, which will be a greater honor to theire birthe. Theare now reniaineth before my returne the prosecutinge of the treatie of Xantcn to an execution wherein the Archcdukes onely demaundc from the states a promisse of not re-entringe into those Towncs. You would thincke Sr uppon the first sounde that they were holy personages and extreamly pro- vident of the future tranquillitie, but though they demauiide the promise, they meane, for ought I see yet, not to aggrcc uppou the fashion which hath made us now spendc seaven monthes abowte the reformation of phrases mid syllables.
The first of July will be owre criticall daye when the States have appoynted a general asscmblie wherein they will determine of theire last resolution. And so having dischardged this accoumpt of myself which I owed you in all true love I committ you Sr to Gods blessed favorc resting.
[In dorso.~] Paralell with one to His M'-v.
Gives an account of himself in 4 employm'"1*.
Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others. 267
VI. — SIR HENRY WOTTON TO JAMES I.
ugiut3,
MATE IT PLEASE YOUEE MAJESTIE
I have thought mcete to direct the present dispatche immediatly unto your owne Royal handes intending therein to.dischardge twoe duties. The first is an accoumpt of the states answere touching your Matie" proposition. The other is a new project upon the whole affaire; which though it were borne at first in myne owne fancie, and therefore being so well acquaynted as I am with the father's weaknesses, coulde not merite much approbation even from mysclfe, yet having since conferred with some judgments of more value and balanced those reasons of state on each side that fall into it, I am now fulle persuaded (with humble reservation alwayes of youre Matire higher wisdome) that it will prove the only easie waye of determining this great businesse for the present and the only secure for the future. Xow first for the states answere. Yesterday towards evening, Mons. Barneveld, Sr Joachim of Zeeland, and Liklama of Friseland (respondents for the three principall provinces) came unto my house as from the rest of the bodie, where Barneveld, in very sober and solemne fashion, spake at much length to this substance ; that, since my late proposition the states heere resident had been in great payne how to satisfie your Matic on whose affection, power, and judgment, they more depended in all theire perplexities then upon any other assistance under Heaven. That they had debated the matter at theire owne table, and with the Councell of State and with the Prince Maurice in particular, and with as much studie and anxietic as any thing that ever befell them.
That in conclusion, they founde themselves unable by the power of theire commissions to deter- mine of it without a precedent full digestion thereof in theire severall provinces, intimating that this last was but a generall Assemblie of Holland, which though it beare the greatest chardge in onerouse tymes yet had not authentic to dispose of more then their owne voyces, especially in a point which was heretofore by the universall consent of all the rest esteemed the most cssentiall of all other in the promise, namely the interposing of the regal names which only could give authority to it and secure them from deception.
That the omitting on the other syde of the Emperor's name, whoe had nothing to doe in the treatic, could houlde no proportion of equivalence with this of the Kings who were the principal mediators and mayntayners thereof, and therefore the Archeduckes in that should cxchaunge but a penn knife for a swordc. Besides that even themselves did never in any of theire formularies presume to inserte the Emperor's name in the bodie of the Promise among the dispositive woordes (as they call them) but only in the preface like a compliment or peece of ceremonie.
That if the Deputies of the Provinces who sitt hccre and are to give an accoumpt of theire actions should without special and deliberate assent of theire superiors suffer themselves in a poynte of such wayghte to be over-reached by the Spaniards (of whose artifices sayd he we are more afrayd then of thcire power). Howe should they answere it to the people whoe were allready full of clamor?
2M 2
268 Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others.
That the constitution of their state wheare theare was such diversitie of interests required in them that had the presidence of the aflfayres a more cautelose proceeding then in other formes of Gouverment.
That therefore if the Kings names were taken oute of the Promise (which he often called the mayne poyntc of theire securitie) they must needes (for as much authentic as they yet had) adde in place thereof some special reference to the Treatie of Xanton, which perchaunce the archedukes would lesse permitt. For the whole Provinces had aggrccd upon this Disjunctive that either the Kings must be named by whome the Treatie did stand or at least the Treatie itself.
Finally, he seemed in the name of the State humbly to desire cither your Ma1'™ gratious patience till the matter could be better digested in a gcncrall consultation or that you would be pleased to presse the Archedukes (whoe after the Treatie of Xanton had been signed and sealed were the devisers of this promise for the preventing of the execution) to be contented with some relative specification of the sayd Treatie in the promise.
This was the substance of his speachc besides some matter of intelligence touching the Emperor's intents to sequester the litigiouse landes, and the Spaniards to masque theire owne purposes under his name, with the like apprehensions which abounde in private discourse. I shall not necde to repcate to your MaUe rnyne owne replye which consisted principally in the remembrance of youre royall meritcs towardcs these provinces and the commone cause, youre three particular engagements of yourselfe in theire defence since my being hecre, youre continuall sollicitude and imployment of all means for their tranquillitie, youre mediation of a league before between [the States] and the Protestant Union, and now with East Friesland for theyre better strength, which things and the like I did not touche with any cxprobration as I professed (for ther was nothing soe contrarie to your Ma"™ nature as to remember your bencfitts), but only to lett them see that theare were very just motives of that assurance which your Matlc had given bothc others and yourself that your intercessions and counsayles should be well accepted by them, especially in a tyme when the distractions of the kingdomc of Fraunce the minoritie of the King and the Queencs private eudes did cast upon your Maj"1' almost the whole care of the common cause. But Monsr Barneveld did cutt me of and ended owre conference with a seriouse acknowledgment howe much they were bound unto your royall person and crownes, desiring me to represent unto your Ma"c the answer which I had receaved was not a negative but dilative unto which they were forced for the present. I pressed him to tell me with what terme they could resolve, wherewith he seemed somewhat surprised, but consulting a little with his fellowcs they agreed it would be aboute the middle or towards the end of September. It is therefore nowe my dutie to deliver unto your Ma"' the reasons that I conceave of this dclayc : First it had been most unthankfull to disavowe youre Ma'"' in that wherein you had engaged them, and it was on the other side in trueth impossible to graunte it. For your Ma""1 proposition is that the Kings names might be left owte of the Promise, wherein the French King doeth not yet concurr, soe as betweene a tendernesse to pffende your Ma"e and impossiblcnesse to dispose of both names withoute the suite of bothe, the middle way was dilation ; secondly, they shall in this meanc while by the benefit of a few weekes come to clearer knowledge of the Emperors and Kingc of Spaines intention , the dismasquing whereof importeth much in the cause. For if their ends be pacificall then the states shall have noe reason to houldc the places taken, but if there
Letters from, Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others. 269
be a rupture intended then they will assuredly keepe the townes [sic] an make Juliers one sommers worke at the leaste.
Thirdly, theare have been in this buisinesse contrary flatus, for I finde the Instruments of the House of Brandcnbourg extreamly desirouse (though not openly) to retayne the names of the Kings as (no doubt) imagining the French King tyed onely thereby (whoe is tyed by nothing else) to theire assistance. For of your Matie they have better houlde. Lastly, though they seeme truely in theire confessions to yeelde your Matic a great deele of power over them, yet pretend to conceale from youre knowledge that some of them at the late debatement did towche your Matil'5 engaging of them before theire consent as a daungerous precedent in respect of the French King, whoe perchaunce hereafter upon the example may assume the like which pcradventure was some cause to breede a little demurring. But this secret matter. For Monsr Barneveld in his speache to me saycd not one syllable of the French King. This is as much as doeth occurre touching the accoumpt of theire answere. Theare nowe remayneth the new project (which not to trouble youre Matie with more then necessarife woordes) is briefly this : — That the Prince of Brandenbourg be contented for his part in the compossession with the Dukedom of Cloves, Cowntic of Marck, Kavensbergh, Kavensteyn, Sfc.; and yeelde unto Newbourg the Dukedomes of Juliers and Bergh for his share, according as the partage was determined in the Trcatie, withowtc putting the matter to the hazardc of fortune by lottc. In this I conceave a great probabilitic to satisfie all parties. The first Brandebourg, whom your Matie hath most cause to favor, hath noe reason to refuse it ; because though Juliers and Bergh be (noe doubt) the fatter possessions, yet that poynt is counter- peased, by being neerer of his friends and master, of that part which is lesse infected witli Popcrie, besides the hazarde otherwise of getting neither of bothe, if things either remaync as they are now or be worse shuffled.
As for the states, they have more cause to wishe it, for they shall have a trustie and oblidgcd Nayhbour to couver theire frontiers ; and I am come by curious meanes to thus much light that Monsr Barneveld long agone, even while we were at Xanton in the heatc of owrc Trcatie, did advise the Prince of Brandenbourg to make choice of that part. Now for the Archeduckes they have the same and more reason then the States to desire it. For they shall have Xewbrough by them, of whose fortunes they may dispose as well as they have donne of his faithc ; and they shall see him placed amongst his Catholicks, to which part he had ever himself so greate a fancie, that it cost us three weekes discourse at Xanton before he would yeelde to putt the division to lottc. I will adde heereunto that the Archeduckes shall thereby have a pcece of theyrc willc (though it be but a feminine satisfaction) in chaunging one part of the Treatie ; and if they be ones satisfied, they will quickly quiet the Emperor, who mooveth only by the nerves of Spaync. And sue the decision of the right may perchaunce be layed of till the comming of Elias, and the provisional possession be converted into a perpetual. Or, if the Duke of Saxony (who is soe Austriacal) slial drawc the Empcrour to a decision of the cause, yet at least the Landes shall lie quiet in the mcane while, and Christcndomc bee freed from these impendent feares of combustion. Only there is one person nominated in owre Treatie which will distaste the project, namely, Monsr Kcttlcr. For his donative of the Baronic of Monjoy must passe in the division of Juliers, and therefore he had
270 Letters from Sir Henry Wolton to King James I. and others.
rather that part should fall to his Master, that he might gather his rents at the more ease ; but in all event theare hath ben likewise a provision for him in the Treatie.
Thus have I ben bolde to presente unto yr MaUe with humble freedome my poorc conceptions, which by the gayning of time I have by an expresse currier communicated with MODS' Trumbal, that if youre Matie shall allowe of it he may bee the better prepared to sounde the inclination of that Courte, which I think he will finde easie enough. If youre Matll! shall in youre wisdome (which is the guide of your vassalls) not thincke it practicable, then, though it be myn owne childe, I wishe it strangled in the cradle. But, because if anything shall ben donnc in this kinde or any other, it seemeth much important to prevent the Emperor's motions, I humbly begge with all con- venient speede the knowledge of your Ma"ra will by the re-dispatche of this messenger, William Murray, of whose diligence I have made good proofe. And soe wishing youre MaUe with a faith- ful hart many and many blessed yeares, I rest
Yr Majesties loyal and long devoted servant,
H. W.
POSTS. — I understand that yowre Matic shall be sollicited by the Howse of Brandenbourg to expresse youre resolution and counsayle whether the Emperor's sequestration shall be resisted in case he proceede so farre, wherein I likewise most humbly crave some notice of youre Royall wille.
From the Haghe, this 3 of August, 1615 st: n: [7n dorso.1 1G15, Aug. 3.
My dispatche touching the
Buisnesse of Juliers.
q. if not tedyous.
VII. — PRIVY SEAL FOE SIR HENRY WOTTON'S ALLOWANCES.
[October 17, 1615.]
James by the grace of God King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith etc. To the Trer and under Trer of our Exchequer greeting Whereas we have appointed our servant Sr Henry Wotton Knight to be or Ambassador resydent wth the Duke and State of Venice, and have allotted to him for his diet and entertaynement for the tyme of his imploymcnt there the somme of fyve markes by the day of currant money of England, Wherefore wee will and require you out of or Treasure in the receipt of our Exchequer from tymc to tyme rcmayning to pay or cawse to bee paid unto the said Sr Henry Wotton or his assignes the said somme of five markes by jhe day for his diet and entertaynement, the same to begin from the first day of September last past before the date heereof, and so to contynue till the day of his returne to our presence ; and wee are further pleased that for his better furnishing towards this service you
Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others. 271
advance unto him by way of imprest so much money as his said entertaynement of fyve markes by the day doth amount unto for the space of fower monthes, the same to be defalked afterwards upon his said entertaynement. And or pleasure is that you continue to make like advancement unto him by way of Imprest from three monthes to three monthes during the tyme of his abode there, the same to be defalked upon his entertaynement from tyme to tyme. And further our pleasure is that you pay unto him for his charges of postage, transportation outwards and homewards, sending of Ires speciall and such like charges, such sommes of money as shall appear by bills under his owne hand to be laid out by him, the same bills being rated and allowed by or principall Secretary for the tyme being, and these or Ires shalbee yor sufficient warrant and discharge in this bchalfe. Given under our privy scale at or Pallace of Westminster the 17th day of October in the 13th yeare of or Kaigne of England France and Ireland, and of Scotland the 49th.
(Copie) JO. BIKGLEY.
[In dorso."} Copie of Sr Henry Wotton his Privie scale.
17th Octobr Anno xiijtio R. Jacob. (1615.)
VIII. — SIE HENRY WOTTON TO JAMES I.
[May 20, 1616.]
[Written in passing through Turin on his way to Venice. The details of the negotiation will be found in the despatches of Sir Isaac Wake amongst the State Papers. From his letter of the 21st of May the date of the present despatch may be inferred.]
MOST GRACIOUS SOUVERAYGNE,
Your Majesty hath heere Mr Isaac Wake, who serveth you uppon my syght and knowcledge and by the coinon voyce with such diligence and judgment and reputation in his whole caryage as doth much ease me in the present dispatch, who am otherwise in respect of this place but a passenger. Havinge therefore given your Matic an account by letters that come here- with to Sr Ealphe Winwoode of a painfull and dangerous journey, made longer by at least six hundred myles then it might otherwise have bin for the avoydinge of contagious townes and provinces, which inforced us to seek as hard wayes into Italyc as I thinke Hannibal did pcarce with fyre and vineger. I will nowc tell your Matie what hath binn donn in this Court whcare I arryved cyght dayes since with all my companye but one (whom 1 left behinde in desperate case) through God's blcssinge in goode health, and in such a poynt of tyme as nothinge could have bin wished more opportune, for I mctt some twoe hourcs journey from the Alpes Signer Octaviano Bonni, one of the gravest senators of Venice, of my olde acquaintance, imploycd extraordinarilyc into France, from whom I tookc some light of the present affaires in transltit, and hcther I am come three days before Monsr de Bcthun, imploycd likewise extraordinarye into Italye both with the same endes, though perchance not with the same affections, for though theyre scope be peace in prima intentione,* yet I doubt they will vary about the media, and for my part I doe not well
• " Capite " was first written and then struck out.
272 Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others.
see hitherto howe theare may be found a waye to wrap up the several feares and complaintes of this Prince and the Venetians in one pack without puttinge more feare uppon those that trouble them then them selves can doe eyther jointlye or singlye though we have heerc courage enough and moneye enough theare. The mainc doubt is the faintness of France for Albert out of that king- dome, which doth cover this estate with five Provinces, it might perchance be some case to the Kinge and Queene to vent into Italyc the relictes of their owne disquietcst humours, and even to spend that waye some of the principalls, yet I doubt their conjunction with Spaine will hardly beare this pcece of wisedome. These thinges I doe from hence represent unto your MaUe as a vacant discourser uppon which at Venice I shalbe able to make more solid judgement. In the meane while it may please your Ma1"-' to understand that myself and your Resident have had heere (post solennia) sundry serious conferences with this Prince of twoe and three houres at a time, and twice likewise with the intervention of the Venetian Ambassador, who is the nephew of that famous Duke Donate, and himself a gentleman of eager spivitts. This Duke did yesterday make also an attempt to bringe us altogeyther to a cofnon consultation before himself and some of his counsell, with Monsr dc Bethun and the French agent, which though I did not refuse for my part (because your Ma1"* endcs are cleare and necde not ieare the lyght) yet the French did directly
with
resyst it, denyinge to treate before him eyther in the presence of his owne counsellors or other ambassadors. The cause of the refusall we cannot easily tell, whether it weare fcare of beinge discovered or a loathness of being ingaged to farr in publique, oradesyre toappropriat the business of Milan as much as may be to themselves alone, or lastly some doubt that the noyse of such generall meetingos might offend Spaine and the Pope. Likewise in respect of our profession, howesoever sure I am that it hath moved in this Prince some displeasure and more jealousyc, and so I leave it. Tout-hinge our owne precedent conferences they wearc spent about foure maine points —
1. The league of the Duke with the Protestant union.
2. The league of the Venetians with the sayde union.
3. The strict conjunction betweene the Duke himself and the Venetians.
4. And lastly, the pass of the Grisons.
For the first I have disposed the Duke unto it by your Ma'ic* counsell and desyre (which are with him inducements of greate auctoritye) by the qualitye of his own person beinge a member and Prince of the Empire, as the Count Palatin styled him in his answer to me, and besydcs viccar of the Empire in Italye whiles the scale is vacant, by his owne connection in descent and bloudc with the principal! houses, and lastlye by the argument of arguments his owne necessitye as fair as it might be manncrlyc touched. Uppon this he made twoe doubles, the one in substance and the other in forme. The substantiall, whether he might enter into it, the ende of the union beinge (as he conceived it) for the maintenance of the reformed religion ; wherin I cleared him that it was grounded uppon the tranquillity, a meere civill point, which did well appeare in this that betweene the princes themselves and states united ther was some difference in pointe of conscience, besydes some Imperiall townes that wer of that union, that notwithstanding gave libertye to the roomaine religion; in which point he was contented to helpe me himself, alleaginge the example of his neighbours the Swissers, who are both leagued togeyther, and with other Princes of contrarye
Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others. 273
confession. The formall doubt was howe it might be donn handsomly and safelye, whereon after some debatement we fell uppon this that the fittest waye both for least noyse and most expedition was to treate it in your Ma1"* Court wheare both himself and the Venetian had resydent Ambas- sadors, for at this conference the Venetian Ambassador heere was present who declared a goode inclination in that state unto it, wheare uppon the Duke tolde him in a goode plaine and resolute fashion that nothinge could be dearer unto him than to enter with them togeyther into the same union, but howesoever he would interteine it alone provided he might first knowe what particular conditions would be demanded on his part, wheareof the Conte Scarnafigi had advertised him that I should bring him some light from the Palatin Court. To this I answer that indeede so was your Ma''™ commandement unto me to sound it as farr as I coulde in my passage, for which you had expresslye addressed me that waye, but the Count Palatin (though otherwise of great authoritye) could come to no particulars wthout the deliberation of the whole bodye. To be short, he resolved after these discourses to make two dispatches, the one to the Embassador resident in your Mahes Court with instructions to treate, for he had power (as he saythe) sent him before, the other a preparatorye express messenger to the Count Palatin and the other princes to intimate his desyre, and to move them to appoint some with sufficient authoritye for that purpose in your Matlea Court, wheare the Alleman Princes cannott well refuse to handle it. First, because your Matle is the heade of the union ; next, because for that in the answer which I had at Heydelberg the Count Palatin did remitt himself to that which had bin formerly signified unto your Matie as to the fountaine of this bussiness. These dispatches the Duke promiseth to make within twoe or three dayes, which I leave to the solicitation of your Maties resident heere. And for the other three points above mentioned, whereof the openinge of the passage through the Orisons seemeth the most important and the most difficult, I will make as much hast as maye be to give your Matle an account from Venice, which state being nowe styrred with theyr owne necessityes should methinkes by a mechanicall maxim be the more capable of perswasion, for quod est in motu facilius movetur. I have bin heere received with the accustomed countenance and favour of this Prince toward all those that are your Matie", and I have saluted with all due kindeness from your Matie the whole house, amonge whom I found nowe more then before the Dowager of Mantoua, one of the principall subjects of the present incumbrances. I must end with humbly beseeching your Matie both to pardon and to pitie the wcakeness of us your servants that are so farr removed because we are tyed uppon this varyable theater to serve your Matie by discourse which others doe by direction. But our guide and measure is the honour of your name and the safetye of your sacred person and estates, which humblye comendinge to the highest protection, I rest
Your MatiM most faythfull and longe devoted servant.
[7n dorso.~\ From Savoy.
To his MaUe from Sr Henry Wotton in his passage out of Germanic into Italic.
VOL. XL. 2 N
274 Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others.
IX. — SIR HENRY WOTTON TO SIR WALTER ASTON.
[Holograph.]
[This and the following six letters contain the news of the time for the information of Aston, who was ambassador at Madrid.]
Venice, this ,| of June, 1621. MY LORD AND EVER HONORED FRIEND,
Not long before my coming from Vienna (where I stayed till it was fitt to leave the Emperour to the Counsayles of his owne fortune), I gave yr Lord? knowledg by the waye of Bruxelles of my tending to this place, the center of all my motions, and withall I sent you a cypher.
Heere I have been almost foure moneths hoping still for some commaundement fro you, which I will now begg agayne. Besides owre owne privat frendship we arc now consociates in the publique service. And betweene the places of owre residence theare is as much relation as jcalousie can breede : for that is a relative as well as love. This I bring as an argument [of JJ]tCfCOlir3C» erased"] to grownde a frequent intercourse of letters betweene us ; youre Lord1' shall have from me news enough : the verie disease of this citie. At the present (to beginn wth a pertinent poynt) we stande in some hazard about the confines of an aifront or a rupture. Certayne Spanish Troupes would passe armed fro Crema towardes the Milanese over part of this dominion, wch the Duke of Fcria seemes to pretend they may doe by olde agreements betweene this state and the sayed Dukedome, but heere the Senat hath strongly resolved the contrarie, and accordingly a campe is collected of English, French, Fleamish horse and foote aboute Martenengo as the fittest place to impeach theire passage, necre which the sayed Spaniardes stande hovering what they shall doe. In the meane while frequent carriers are sent hither with lies in theire mouth and the truthe in theire pacqucts as the fashion is, whereof the last hath filled all this Towne w"1 a voice of an incountcr and some slawghtcr on bothc sides. But a fresh letter fro Sr Henry Peyten, Colonel of the English (who is himselfe theare) doth correct this vaync noise.
I thincke it will begett more passion then action betweene theasc umbragious neighbours, and, according to the Gospel's phrase, " Threasure up anger till a fitter tyme."
I would I had paper enough left to tell you how little we believe the execution of yruTreatie about the Vale Tolina. It is playne that arts arc sought to linger the effect till the Pope's end, for the next perchaunce may be of an other complexion. This is Frenche or at least a pure Italian. And so (my good Lord) I commit you to God's blessed love, remayning,
Youre ever faythfull poore frend to serve you,
HENRY WOTTON.
Alia Medesima.
Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others. 275
X. — SIR HENRY WOTTON TO SIR WALTER ASTON.
Venice the ^ of September, 1621. MY GOOD LORD AND EVEB HONORED FREND,
I send youre Lordp heerew"1 a large cypher for all occurrents, that I may heereafter without any tender or scrupulous reservation communicat wUl you some of my fresh thoughts. The former, wch I sent from Vienna, seemeth to have been swallowed between that place and Bruxelles.
In the conveyance of the present I use the Spanish secretarie, who seemeth a well natured man. Your Lordp hath likewise not a better waye of youre commaundes to me then by the Venetian Ambassadour theare till I shall fitt us bothe with some Marchant that hath dealings in Spayne, of wch this Towne can not be voyed.
Youre letters to Sr John A*re I reserve till his returne this waye homewardes. For his Malic hath removed him, and to make the place emptie for Sr Thomas Howe (who is already on the waye wth his ladie by sea) Mr. John Chapman hath been sent before -over land as Secrettirie of the Ambassage, at whose coming thether Sr John Aires commission doeth immediatly determin ; with him I have had little tyme to settle any good intercourse. In his successour I have more interest of privat acquayntance, betweene whome and youre LordP I will intermediat a due intelligence.
If Christendome were fitt to thincke of a common cnimie what a tyme were this when the Gran Signor hath almost desolated Asia with carying six hundred thousand Turkes and one hundred and threescore thousand Tarters (for so Sr John Aire doeth calculat his armie) [i»te— E«fepe Some count erased] towards Polonia ; Constantinople in the meane tyme lying open to any that Avould invade ;t at a f"U it; for the Captayne Bassha is in the Blacke Sea. Touching neerer things : yesternight the Marquis lm -0"' V de Cocure (late Ledger at Rome), by the way of Loreto (that zeale may countenance his errand), within my arrived heere wth expresse character of Ambassador extraordinarie, and this day he shall by compasse, senatours be publiquely receavcd and conducted to a house wch the state hath fitted lor him at great *" ease. For by a frugal decree of senat the charge and care of all such extraordinarie receptions is laycd on the Jues. Long it hath been noysed before him that his message was to joyne here wth the Nuntio for the restoring of the Jcsuites. But of late some have begunn to whisper that those Fathers were not his scope, but his veile to cover deeper instructions aboute sounding this Kepublique, the inclination of this Republiquc, if the King his Master after the selling of his owne Rcalme should passe the Alpes in person, or send over a fayre armie in favour of the suppressed Grisons his confederates, so ingenious is this cuntrie that they ever thinke the professed part of all negotia- tion nothing but the vizard of the concealed. But the Frcnche Ambassadour resident here, having within thcase two dayes visited me, did of himself, as it were to obviat all other impressions, assure me that his coming is merely for the aforcsayed Jcsuites. How likely he is to spcede may be partly conjectured by this, that yesterday the Duke exhorting such senatours as arc deputed to receave the Marquis to be theare in full number, he fortified hia exhortation with this argument,
2N 2
276 Letters from Sir Henry Wot ton to King James I. and others.
that sithcncc lie was likely not to be satisfied in his errand it should be fitt to be the more compleate in all respectes that did concerne his person. Of the issue I shall give yr Lord!" a better accoumpt in my next.
The controversie in terra ferma about passage of soldiers drawes towardes an appoyntment treated betweene the Pope's Nuntio at Milan and this heare. The fonnalitic of the accorde wilbc thist the Spanish compagnie that was repulsed shall [passe-, erased], marche over the Venetian territorie
leave
in armes by publique [pcrir.isgioB-, erased], with the ordinarie protestation sine prejudicio, wch protestation the Duke of Feria would a great while not swallowe, but now he seemeth wonn unto it : provided that likewise on the other side the verie same be protested that the foresayed compagnie was putt back sine prejudino. After this, all passion shall cease, the cause be civilly considered, and a regular determination sett downe for the future.
O
In the lowc Provinces we have yet no actual rupture. For the seidge of Juliers (a neutral piece though garisoned by the states) implyeth no breache.
Bavaria thev saye is now entred into the upper Palatinat, and my L. Digbie, notwithstanding yr hclpc out of Spaync and his owne singular dextcritic, can obtcync no truce in the lower. For the impediments (I meane Mansfeld and Jeagcrndorff) seeme stronger than the adjuvants.
I have from his Lord'1 this weeke no letters wherewith he doctli commonly favour me. And therefore am loathe to beleive a voice growen hecrc among the publique Ministers that he hath taken his leave in Vienna. True it is that strong reason did incline him towardes Madrid. For where shall we hope to finish this businesse but at that the fountaync of all the Empcrour's strength and counsayles ? I will now give my cipher leave to kisse yr handcs before I intertayne you farther. In the meane tyme, and ever remayning,
Yr Lord?" verie faythfull poore frcnd and servant,
HENRY WOTTON.
[/n dorso.] Alia Modesima.
3 Sr Homy Wotton,
24 of September, 1621.
XI. — SIR HENRY WOTTON TO SIR WALTER ASTON.
[Holograph.]
Venice, the *9 of December, 1621.
MY LORD,
Non sum ambitiosus in malts. But it is no ordinarie case which I must describe unto youre Lord"" for the excuse of too many silent weekes.
I laye myself in Padoua more then a moneth thorough an ague which tooke me beeing abroade. And at the same tyme all my familie (except 4 persons), Italians, Germans, and English, were eather theare or heere in like manner decumbent. A Venetian Gentleman also who lyeth in a eeavered partition of my howse is at the present himself, wyfe, children, maydcs, and gondoliers all
Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others. 277
under Physique, so as we beginn to suspect owre habitation, beeing the most exposed to all weather of any in Venice, and by violence of the flashing windes the waves have pierced thorough and pondered owre wales and even taynted owre cesterns. Thus we are contented to rest owre curiositie uppon thease seconde causes. But God's indisputable will must be donn, which is the last philosophic both of Heaven and Earthe. Two I have lost. The one with the more griefe because beyonde all expectation even of his Physitions he was caried awaye in the strength of his youthe by a weake disease which some fancies did exasperat. The other was a Venetian who had long served under Sr Dudley Carleton and mee heare as secretarie of the language or complements, a place more easily supplied then when substance is vacant.
This is the accoumpt of owre infirmities wdl have made me so worthie of yr Lord1" pardon that I may chalenge some part of yr compassion.
Now to proceede in owre correspondence as I will doe wcekely. For while God shall spare us uppon this Theater how can we lack subject of noise and discourse ? You know the agreement betweene the Polonians and Turcks, and it is a glorie indeede that a single piece hath beene able to resist the common enimie. But to my conceyte the greater feare remaynes. For I doubt, the external daunger which kept us in some awe beeing taken awaye, Christendome will growe too wanton at home. We now saye that the Emperour shall have good store of Polonians to liealpe him, and Bethelem Gabor as many Tartars. Before taease can arrive with you, you will knowe that, uppon my L. Digbies noble relation how he founde the buisiuesse and affections to stande, his Mlie hath resolved to Ictt the Emperour concocte his owne humours, and it hath been thought fitt to redceme some of the tyme wch hath been lost by Treaties by resummoning the Parlament on the 20th of the last wch had been adjorned to February. Satis peccatum est mollibus consultis. Whether my L. Digbies jornie to you theare holde or no youre Lord1' will be pleased to tell me in yr next. The dispensation of owre matche at Rome is eagerly handled, and no English man of any fashion (if he be one of theire Catholiques) can come thether but they call him an ambassadour.
Heere we beginn to talke of some new levies by lande, and that likewise we shall ari'nc the Gulph. For the Spanish fleete intending to winter as they saye in the Port of Brendisi hath given us scandal enough to frame a complaynt agaynst it to the Pope as beeing likely to prejudice the trafique of the Adriatique wherein his sanctitie is intercssed.
You have heard that the Grisons have renounced the league of Fraunce, a foulc blowe to ye Treatie of Madrid and almost enough to make the French sober at home. Owre casie Pope chideth at the Spanish progressions in the Vale tolina, and they goe forward beeing now able to walke (while they kepe a foote in the Lower Palatinat) from Milan to Dunkercke uppon theire owne inheritances and purchases: a connexion of terrible moment in my opinion. Yor Lord1" letters to Sr John Aires I reserve. The King and the Marchants have dislodged him, and Sr Thomas Roe wlh his ladle are well on their way thetherwards. Betweene whom and yr Lord1' I will medeat a continual intelligence. Yesterday was heere in the open Court of the Palace one Aluigi Querini, a principal gentleman, apprenended and muffled in a cloake by order of the In- quisiters of State (one of owre blackest Magistrates) for a secret jornie to Ferrara and conference theare wth the Cardinal Governour. On Thursday night they chose Aluigi Valeresso to succeede
278 Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and otliers.
Sigr Girolamo Lando in England. Theire late ambassador Pesaro sent into Fraunce about Poictiers •was assayled by certayn stragling horsemen, despoyled, two of his trayne killed, and himself had a pistol twice putt to his brest which bothe tymes tooke no fire. But lett me entertayne you no longer with thease menudencias. In my next I shall have occasion to awake owre cypher wch I have yet suffered to sleepe. God bless us and love us. In whose deare protection I leave you, ever remayning
Youre Lord** vcrie faythfull poore frend to serve you,
HENRT WOTTON.
XII. — SIR HENRY WOTTON TO SIR WALTER ASTON.
[Holograph.]
[December 29, 1 , Mr LORD, January 8, 2
On Saterday last (wch was hecre new year's day) the French Ambassadour having audience bnught the Duke pour les estrenes this resolution.
That the King his Master having considered the present perplexities of the Orisons and the inconveniences that may growe thearcby uppo this Kepublique was determined to shewe unto the world that lie had power bothe to reduce his subjectes and to hcalpe his frcndcs. But had first in all congruitie thought mcctc to propounde to the King of Spayne this disjunctive, that the thinges donn in the Val Tolina were rather by the will of the saycd King or by the meere practise of the D. of Feria. The first he could not imagin : in the later case he would not be satisfied with lesse then the head of the saycd Duke. For otherwise he should alwaycs have some cause to suspect that theare had been betweene the K. of Spayne and his Minister some connivent intelligence. In the mgan while de les Diguieres (whose goverment of Dauphine had necrcst aspect uppon Italic) was commanded to putt things in preparation. With this the foresayd Ambassador begann the new yeare, w'1' I shall not neede to tell yr Lord? how welcome it was to this senat, nor how much welcomcr it would have been if the French king's [presort; erased] inward distractions (which [woul.l, erased] wilbe easily fomented by theire ownc nobilitic, besides forein arts) would suffer us to beleevc thease brave promises.
Yr Lordf hath heard of a certayne negotiating fryar, by name Hyacintho (who, if I mistake not the man, was long since spued out of this Towne for a mutinous Sermon), lately intercepted by the Mansfeldians, and with all diverse letters wherewith' he was laden fro the Empcrour towardes the Spanish Court, theare to make good by his dcxteritie the investing of the Duke of Bavaria in the Electorship, wcl' that Empcrour had already resolved uppon him and already actually bestowed without the knowledge of Spayne, as we are yet left to bclecve. This discoverie hath beene verie opportune for the information of cure Parlament at the present. And they saye that all the papers taken aboute the sayed Fryar shalbe printed at the Haghe, conteyning many fierce and desperat poyntes wch tend to a warr of religion by those incancared counsayles wch the Emperour receaveth after dinner fro the Jesuites. For that is theire tyme of intromission to him.
Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others. 279
I beleeve yr Lordp will have great payne in that Court, so susteyne yr owne good impressions. God make this new yeare wherein we shall enter before the next currier prosperous unto his Mlie and all his hono. So I rest
Yr Lordp" verie faythfull poore frend and servant,
HE NET WOTTON. From Venice the 29th of December 1621.
Stile of England. [In dorso.'] Sr H? Wotton, 29 Dec. 1621.
XIII. — SIR HENRY WOTTON TO SIR WALTER ASTON.
[Holograph.] ,
Venice, the -~g- of Januarie, 1622. MY LORD,
I shall not neede agayne to tell yr Lord1" of a certayne Fryar, by name Hiacintho, intercepted in Germanie by the Mansfeldians in his jornic towardes you as he was laden with diverse instructions from the Emperor and letters to the Principals of yr Court. By wch many thinges are opportunely discovered, and among other that the sayed Emperor hath actually conferred the Investiture of the Electorship on the D. of Bavaria even without knowledge of the King of Spayne as we are yet left to beleeve. All the papers wilbe printed at the Haghe, and copies thereof are already sent to his Majestic, which will breede you buisncsse. For my part uppon it I am readdie to turne Eremite and to abandon all rules of civil art. For surely (my Lord) the Elccto- rating of that Duke is agaynst the verie Alphabet and Elements of State.
I conceave the King of Spayne uppo it in a great dilemma. If he doe not mayntayne the Emperour's resolution he will perchaunce want strength himself to mayntayn it. If he shall abett him or abone him (as yr phrase is theare) it wilbe harde to make this age beleeve or any since the tyme that men did eate akornes that the sayd king [of Spayn, erased] was not of his counsayle.
Heere they have this weeke solcmnely acquaynted me with a summe of theirc intelligence touching the Khetian affayres, desiring me to represent the same to his Matio.
My answer was that I would doe so, and had donn so already by sunclrie pieces, but rather out of dutie then necessitie, since an ambassage fro the said Grisons beeing [ai erased} arrived at the Ilaghe with porpose perhaps of passing over into England, or at least having theare conferred all theirc complaynts wth Sr Dudley Carleton, his Matlc could not lackc due information nor a just feeling of their case, whose authentic and name was as much imploycd in the trcatic of Madrid as the French King's, as I had been well taught by yr Lordp, though now owre necrer cares did somewhat distract us. There are two great remarquable circumstances in the proceeding of the Duke of Feria. The one that he imposeth the oath of obedience as he goeth on fro piece to piece. The other that after gBisoning of them he now beginneth by little and little to disarme them, wch is in truthe to cutt the last stringes of libertie.
280 Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others.
To ende my letter, and to beginn the new yeare (into w* we are entred since the last sumer) w* pretie stuff: let me tell yr LordP that at Rome are newly arrived a levie of English gentle- woemen. Al corpo del mondo questa e galante. They are brueing a new order of feminine Josuites. Theire particular names I yet knowe not, but I imagin the Ladie Lovel of my cuntrie and olde acquayntance to be the leader. For she hath had some such thing in her high fancies a good while. This I will lay up for a subject of more discourse betweene us as I shall heare farther. And now I leave yr Lordp in God's deere love, wth the wishing of many happie years unto you.
Your servant,
HENRY WOTTON. [7/i dorsoJ] Alia Medesima.
XIV. — SIR HENRY WOTTOX TO SIR WALTER ASTON.
[Holograph.]
Venice, the -J-| of January, 1622.
MY LORD, .
How like you this ? In the copie of the Emperour's letter to yr Don Baltasar de Zuniga (intercepted in the wallet of the wandring Fryar Hiacintho) is cxpresly affirmed that
[Electoral t]lc gaye(j Emperour had conferred fthc £ • -^ • I b • 55 • F5 • ST • 7* • c • « uppon . uppon the L H 43 12 33 59 21 55 6 53
Duke of tjle Du].c of Bavaria .1 c o n d c b ,, o g n
-SO" ' by C°UnSaylC °f the 33 ' 21 ' 49 ' 3"5 ' H 3 ' d 2T ' 39 ' 49 '
counsayle of
the Conde at e ~| d'Ognate.] 6 " 59 ' 11 'J
Thus much only I have obteyned leave from my present greefes to tell yr LordP, my steward and kinsman^beeing this verie day taken from me by the hand of God after a long infirmitie which had spent his strength, and so I commit youre Lord' to the mercie and love of heaven.
Certissimo seruidore,
HENEY WOTTON.
[L.S.] All' 111"10 et lecmo sigre il sig™ Cavare Gualtero Ashton, Ambasciadore per la Mu della Gran Bretagna a Madrid.
• Here is a blunder in the cypher, it should have been 59. b 3 is a nullity in this cypher.
Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others. 281
XV. — SIB, HENRY WOTTON TO SIR WALTER ASTON.
[Holograph.]
[Febmary ~, 1621.] Mr LORD,
I have receavcd two letters of late from you, and in the first of them one to Sr Thomas Kowe, to wch I have given due conveyance, being glad that I lie so fitly to intermedia! youre correspondence w"1 the Levant.
In the other I finde the fruict of yr diligence in procuring, uppon his Matie8 last letters to that King, so speedie a.commaunde to Bruxelles for the imployment of Pechius in owre behalf to the Emperour, of wch instrument lett me tell yr Lordp, by the waye, that he gave us at Santoun more arguments of his discretion then of his sinceritie.
On the other side the grave of Swarzenburge, destinated into England for the King's satisfaction, having wayted on the Emperor in his nuptial jornie beyond Saltzburg for his instructions, was thense retourned back to Vienna with order to attend theare till they be sent him. Thease be in my opinion not Spanish or Italian but Dutche delayes. Heere I have at last by order of Senat receavcd fundamental satisfaction touching their interteinment of the C. Mansfcld, agaynst wch (as I wrote before) I had interceaded. They tell me that the scope of theirc contract wth him is not to drawe him from the place where he is, but rather to susteine him the better and to settle his fortune in all event, wch wilbe a good quieting of his thoughts. So they explane themselves, and, for aught I see, we must lett princes be theire owne Interpreters.
From Rome we have great things. A new congregation under tytle de fide Catholica pro- paganda, pregnant they say of a Leage contra Haercticos. And yet owre last letters from close men tell us that the Pope doeth waver in his inclinations towardes the Bavarian Duke, and that he hath dispatched an expresse currier after Verospo to suspende that piece of instruction wch some saye springeth from Spayne, whose Instruments at Rome have lately joyned him. In so much as now the Spanish Ambassadr theare and the Cardinal Ludouisio are professed Coach- compagnons in the eye of the world. The glue is the Inheritrix of the Princedom of Venosa in the Kingdom of Napcls, who, by assent fro Spayne, is promised to the Pope's little nephew: having before been denyed to the Duke of Modena for his son Don Aluigi, nay even to Paulus V"' for his ill-favoured nephew Prince of Sulmona. Yet this perchaunce may prove breve gaudium, for we heare withall that the Pope is at the present decumbent of more then the goute. Owre Duke hearc cometh now abroade agaync, whom the people the last weeke seemed willing to beleeve to be dead. His tymes indeede have been somewhat penurious. And the common man heere knowes no other rules of a good Prince but bigg loaves.
The Ambassad' of this State, Griti, bccing revoaked (as I have formerly written) from the Imperial Court uppon new difference bctwecne him and the Conde d'Ognate, is in his returnc to visit the Bavarian Duke : a thing straunge unto me, whereof I shall tell yr Lordp more in my next. The French King seemea maynly to embrace the Rhsetian businesse; and the bodie of the Grisons,
VOL. XL. 2 O
282 Letters from Sir Henry Wot ton to King James I. and others.
(if they be still a bodie) have disavowed the late Acte of theire Ambassadors at Milan : nay, as we heare, the Ambassad™ themselves saye that certayne false articles have been inserted into the printed copies of theire accorde. In summa, I beleeve the Duke of Feria (though the half of him be English) wilbe troubled with mayntayning his new purchases. Of owre owne maters at home I am unwilling to speake, seeing such disharmonie when we should be most in tune, but
Est bene non potttit dicere, dixit, erit. I will end in that comfortable verse, And ever be,
Youre Lord1" most faythfull
poore frend to serve you,
HENRY WOTTON. Venice, this -jj of Februarie, 1G21.
Alia Medesima. J? Henry Wotton, 18 of Feb. sti. vet.
XVI. — SIR HENRY WOTTON TO SIR ALBERTUS MORTON.
[Holograph.]
[The mention of Lord Holderness and Lady Fielding places the date of this letter between Jan. 22, 1621, and Sept. 14, 1622.
In March, April, and May, 1622, Wotton was negotiating with the Venetians for assistance for the war in the Palatinate, and this Letter was therefore in all probability written about that time. Sir Albertus was the third son of George Morton, Sir H. Wotton's half-brother. He began public life as his uncle's secretary at Venice. He was there appointed Secretary to the Electress Palatine, and Agent with the Princes of the Union. In 1G19 he returned home upon his appointment of Clerk of the Council. In 1620-21 he was sent upon a special mission to Germany with £30,000 for the Princes of the Union. In 1624 he was appointed Ambassador to France, but never went, as in February 1625 he succeeded Calvert as secretary.]
Mi ALBERTE,
Youre commendation of this bearer unto me hath made me the willinger in his returne to sett uppon him a marke of trust in the cariage of an important dispatche coincident with his departure, of w*h one piece doeth neerely concerne you, namely the fayre professions of this Republique in the businesse of owre Royal Mistresse: whose concurrence hath been sollicitcd bothe by his Matics ownc letters (which are the best interpreters of his affection) and by his com- maundes to me. Lett me praye you in youre next to the Haghe to doe me the right of informing how glad I was of this imployment heere. James hath quenched all my wonder at yr silence. Now, because I foresee that heereafter theare will growe more mater of discourse betweene us, I have thought fitt to furnish you with a larger cypher, whereof I must entreate you to consigne a fayre copie to the Deane of Paules.*
• John Donne was made Dean of St. Paul's in November 1621.
Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others. 283
You receave heerein the copie of my letter to the Earle of Holdernesse uppon occasion of a new commaunde fro the King. Let me trouble you with the presentation thereof unto him, and likewise of the plant which I send in a little long box inscribed to his LordP. I have adventured also to addresse an other box unto you, with inscription to my Ladle Fielding, wch I praye retayne silently [byjOU erased] till the receyte of my letter wch shall followe this within two dayes by the ordinarie ; and therein I shall exercise the present cypher which hath made me now send it solitarily. Till then therefore no more. The Lordes love be with us.
Thine owne poore uncle,
HENRY WOTTON.
God's pitie, I had almost forgotten to thancke thee for thy fine tokens. Never was man so bragg of any thing. And now I am in payne what I shall retourne for them. Or su qualche cosa sara.
\_Indorso.~] To be considered.
To Sr Albertus. Or su qualche cosa sara.
XVII. — Sin HENRY WOTTON TO LADY WOTTON.
[This letter must have been written in July, 1 639. Albert Morton the younger, the second son of Sir Robert Morton, who was the eldest brother of Sir Albertus Morton, to whom the last letter was written, was, according to information derived from the Rev. H. R. Luard, Registrar/ of the University of Cam- bridge, " matriculated pensioner of King's College on July 2, 1639." He was one of "Wotton's executors, as appears from a notice of him in the preface to " The College of Cardinals," edited for the Camden Society by the Rev. J. C. Robertson, Canon of Canterbury. The lady to whom the letter is written was the widow of Thomas second Lord Wotton. The marriage referred to is that between her daughter, Hester Wotton, and Baptist Noel, the son of the second Viscount Camden. It took place (as appears from an extract from the Duplicate Register of Boughton Malherbe, in the Diocesan Registry at Canterbury, furnished by Mr. Hopper,) on the 31st of December, 1639.]
MY EVER TRUELY HONORED LADIE AND NfiECE,
When this my servant returning lately to me from Cambridg (whether I had sent him to see the first placing of my nephew Albertus) thorough London, where he could tell me you were by a casual meeting with yr coacheman, I was truely sortie bothc to understande it acci- dcntaly, and likewise when I was uppon the poynt of resolving (as he can well tell you) to have the honour and comfort of wayting on you in mine own genial ayre youre Mansion Howse in Kent. But I heare aboute a moneth hense you wilbe thcare agayne, and I will plott in the meane while
2o 2
284 Letters from Sir Henry Wotton to King James I. and others.
how to conveighe my self unto you by a little circuit, for more then a voluntarie and pleasurable motion doeth now carie me (since youre Ladp is out of Kent) towardes Suffolck, espetially that I may conferr by the waye with an excellent physition inhabitant in St. Edmunds Burie, whom I brought myself from Venice, where (as eather I suppose or surmize) I first contracted my infirmitie of the splene, to which the verie seate is generally inclined, and therefore theire physitions (who commonly studie the inclinations of places) are the likeliest to understande the best remedies.
For my particular (I thanke my God) I am free of those extremities which first assayled me, yet still troubled at tymes with some uncivil remaynder as my sayed servant will tell you, and I should be glad to come in all poynts cheerfully unto you, for I have a world of discourse to unlade, like those that weede not a garden till it has growen a woode. Yet in the reserved mater I have not much to saye more touching that subject whereof I last wrote to yr Lad^ by this verie Bearer. For in truth I have given it out with a good confidence that all is well in the intentions on both sides and with assurance on my inviolat neece yr dawghter's part. And the reason why I have no more stirred in it is an experience that I had long since of being imployed in the like buisinesse (as I shall tell yr Ladp when we meete) with miserable infelicitic. I thinke silence and rest doeth oftentymes more good then Physique and agitation of Nature.
Glad I am to heare that yr LadP hath brought with you my most deere Neece Hester, to whom My Lord her gran father did as great an injurie as he could possibly doe even while he meant to doe a greater ; owre blessed God disposeth of all thinges sweetely in his good tyme. And so end with my continual prayers for his decrest favours uppon you and all yours.
Remayning ever youre Ladp's most faythfull servant,
HENRY WOTTON.
[/« dorso.'] Leettcr of Sr Hen. Wotton touching a visit or Journey to meete his neece in Kent, but by a circuit to goe to Phisition, w* he brought from Venice wlh him. Venice subject to splene, w"1 which he is a little troubled now and then. Soe glad to heare she has brought his neece Esther wth her, to whome her grandfather did as great an injury as possible, while he sought to doe a greater. He rests.
XVIII. — Notes on some Roman Architectural Remains discovered m the city of Chester, in the summer of the year 1863 : by WILLIAM TITE, Esq. M.P., F.R.S., V.P.S.A., in a letter to Augustus W. Franks, Esq., Director.
Read January 14th, 1864.
MY DEAH SlR,
In the autumn of the last year, on my way back from Newcastle, after the meeting of the British Association, I passed through Chester ; a city which, for the antiquary, the archaeologist, and the architect, possesses peculiar charms; and which I never visit without renewed interest. On this occasion however I found Chester to be gradually changing its former character, in consequence of the overpowering influence of the railroad system, which makes it the great centre of the lines of communication in that district. At the station a very large hotel had been erected ; and that undertaking having proved successful has probably led to similar speculations in the city itself. The principal hotel in the main street has been taken down, and is now being rebuilt ; and in the adjoining street, Bridge Street, another large old inn, known as "The Feathers" (the site of the remains I am about to describe), has been destroyed. Many new and magnificent houses and shops are now occupying the places of the picturesque old wooden buildings of earlier times ; but I am glad to perceive that the peculiar feature of Chester domestic architecture, the " Rows," is still retained ; though the ambulatories now constructed are much higher and lighter than the old passages.
At the cathedral the structure itself still remains in a very sad state of dilapidation ; but this is not because a great deal of repair has not been already effected, for the exquisite restoration of " the Lady Chapel," at an expense of 9,000/., is beyond all praise.
As I wandered along the Rows I observed a photograph in one of the shop windows, representing the foundation of a large Roman bath or chamber, in general character precisely similar to the remains recently discovered at Wroxeter» and so constantly occurring elsewhere in Britain, but much more frequently under tessellated pavements in Italy. In a paper in the thirty-sixth volume of
286 Notes on Roman Architectural Remains
the Archaeologia, on the pavement discovered at the Excise Office, I have described this kind of foundation ; and I have also in another place explained the nature of these supports for such weighty floors. Here, therefore, I need only repeat, that sometimes the floors were laid upon the solid earth, as in the case of the pavement at Broad Street, and sometimes, as at Wroxeter and in this instance at Chester, on the tops of small pillars called piles. In this example, as in many others, the low columns supporting the floor were supposed to have belonged to a hypocaust, understanding that word in the sense of a heated chamber; but I believe they were often really nothing more than a most efficacious means of securing the floor from the damps of the earth beneath, — a difficulty which is constantly occurring in the basements of our own houses.
The interesting photographic view which I referred to led me to inquire further, and I learned that the remains had been discovered on the site of the late Feathers Hotel, in digging the foundations for a new edifice. The architect under whose care these works are proceeding was not then in Chester ; but, having obtained a sufficient introduction, I visited the spot; and, though the tessellated pavement and its low columns were nearly all destroyed, I was agreeably surprised and pleased to find the remains of a Roman portico, or even of a small temple, still standing in situ. Long as I have been an inquirer into the works of the Romans in Britain, I had never before seen any reliques so in- teresting as these; for it is a singular fact that very few vestiges have been found of Iloman columnar decorated architecture. Pavements, walls, remains of baths and villas, sculptures, inscriptions, and smaller antiquities are frequently discovered, and in sufficient numbers to fill museums ; but I am not aware of any Roman works of this class, excepting perhaps the remarkable conical building Avliich once stood on the banks of the Carron, near Alloa, in Scotland,* and the magnificent remains of the Temple of the Sun or of Apollo at Bath.b London, as I have frequently stated, has never to my knowledge produced any such architectural reliques.
• This edifice was familiarly known by the name of " Arthur's (Don," or oven, or hoffen, as Stukelcy expresses the word. It was of a circular form, very much resembling a common bee-hive, and it measured about thirty-nine yards in circumference at the base. It was destroyed in the summer of the year 1743, by the proprietor, Sir Michael Bruce, in order that the stones might be employed in constructing a dam on the Carron, which was soon after carried away by the river. The best and most intelligent account of this structure is contained in Mr. Robert Stuart's " Caledonia Eomana," published in 18-45, plate v. and pages 180-182.
" The earliest account of the temple found at Bath was printed by Governor Thomas Pownall, F.S.A.
discovered in Chester. 287
Bridge Street in Chester, the locality where these remains were discovered, almost precisely corresponds in its direction and importance as a great and ancient highway with the old Eish Street Hill and lower end of Gracechurch Street in the city of London, since it leads from the <Bridge Gate, like a main artery, northward through the city. On the eastern side of the street, something more than a quarter of a mile from the river, stood the old hostel or inn called " The Feathers," under a part of How's Row and opposite to Pierpoint Lane. Beneath these premises, and exactly parallel with the present street, the Roman ruins were discovered, in the afternoon of Monday, June 22nd, 1863, in removing the foundations of the old hotel ; and they evidently constituted two distinct portions of the same edifice.
On the eastern side was a space about twenty-three feet square, containing between sixty and seventy pillars, thirty-two inches high, of a quadrangular form, with caps of twelve inches : the columns being set at the respective distances of thirteen inches, and six and a half inches, apart from each other. It was supposed in Chester that this chamber must have been the hypocaust of a bath ; but the character and number of the small columns, and the absence of flue tiles, which are especially proper to a hypocaust, appear to me to prove that it really was a space artificially contrived below the floor of an apartment or division of a building, the intention of which I have already explained. I am inclined also to think it very likely that, although the existence of these remains seems to have been forgotten, they are none other than those described and figured by Messrs. Daniel and Samuel Lysons in 1810," and likewise noticed by Horsley, Pennant, and Gough many years before.
About a fortnight after the first discovery, on excavating to the north of the hypocaust, so called, the workmen came upon the base of a circular Roman pillar,
and entitled " Descriptions and Explanations of some Roman Antiquities found at Bath in the year M.DCC.XC. Bath, 1795." 4to. It contains a good engraving of the sculptures and inscription ; but in Carter's " Ancient Architecture of England," 1795, fol. plates vii.-x. are entirely composed of large effective etchings of all the remains. The most complete account, however, as well as the best representa- tions of them will be found in Mr. Samuel Lysons's " Reliquite Britannico-Romanas," vol. i. part ii. 1813, Imperial folio. It comprises twelve coloured engravings by W. Daniell, from drawings made about 1802, by the eminent architect, Sir Robert Smirke.
tt These remains have now been represented with accuracy and artistic excellence in the local photo- graph referred to abore. The hypocaust chambers at Uriconium (Wroxeter) are unquestionably much finer than those at Chester, but they do not comprise auy such architectural reliques as those which are subsequently described in this paper.
Notes on Roman Architectural Remains
twenty-seven and a quarter inches in diameter across the top, and four feet eight inches high, resting on a square hlock of red sandstone, standing on the native rock. At the distance of five feet nine inches the hase of a second column was found of similar mouldings and proportions; and subsequently a third and a fourth ; hetween the last of which are the remains of a Roman well, fourteen feet deep, cut in the solid rock. In front of these bases, at a distance of thirty-nine and a half feet, there have been discovered those of six other columns, with the vacancy once occupied by the seventh : an arrangement which gives the appearance of a small temple, as will be perceived by a reference to the plan of the remains. The space inclosed by the two lines of columns is a parallelogram, which under ordinary circumstances would have been the cella of the temple, but it would be an exceedingly small one, and probably was only a covered portico containing a statue. The whole of this part of the building might, therefore, have constituted a four-columned Corinthian portico, about the size of the Maison Carre at Nismes. On July the 16th a specimen of the capitals of these columns was found in the debris, which exhibits a good arrangement of acanthus leaves ; but their bases consist mainly of plain bands like the mouldings found on those of the Temple of Apollo, discovered at Bath in the summer of 1790. Both of these examples shew the rudeness and late age of the edifices in which they appear; or, possibly, the inferiority of the artificers by whom they were con- structed, since it is not at all probable that the best workmen in any art were ever transported from Rome to Britain.
Since it may be considered that the subject of this paper belongs to a pro- fessional local antiquary rather than to a stranger, I ought, in self-defence, to mention, that my motive for thus producing it is that no such accurate local survey appears to have been made. The Chester Journals repeatedly suggested and recommended that the remains should have an existence on paper, and be carefully measured, as the new structure then gradually rising would efface the Roman work in the course of a few weeks. All traces of this ancient edifice would thus be entirely lost, until similar circumstances of excavation might lead to another discovery of that which was really already matter of antiquarian history.
That such a result is not at all improbable may be proved by the description and survey of the remains of the supposed Roman bath existing under " The Feathers " Hotel, published by Messrs. D. and S. Lysons in 1810, which are very likely to be those forming the first portion of the present discovery. " Some of
Vol.XL.Pl.XV.p.
PLAN &COFTME ROMAN REMAINS
DISCOVERED IN BRIDGE STREET CHESTER (JUNE 1863) ON THE SITE OF THE FEATHERS TAVERN.
SECTION 6HEW,MC CONSTRUCTION *T A TO TMC SAKE 8C«LE »» COLUMN
BRIDGE STREET
FRAGMENTS OF CAPITAL. SHAFT AND BA8E6 OF COLUMNS.
o _ u) _ y>
to mo _ 70 to »o too
R BRABB.DEL FROM A SURVEY. AND ADDITIONAL MEMORANDA SUPPLIED BY EDWARD HODKINBON E8O ARCHITECT. CHESTER.
discovered in Chester. 289
those remains (says this accoiint), which were noticed a century ago, are still in existence, consisting of a hypocaust, fifteen feet long and eight feet wide, with an adjoining chamber, or preefumiim, of the same dimensions : they are situated at the back of a smith's shop, under The Feathers Inn in Bridge Street. This hypocaust is supported by twenty-eight pillars of stone, two feet eight inches high, and one foot square at the top and bottom. Over these pillars are placed bricks, eighteen inches square and three inches thick, which support others two feet square, perforated with small holes, set about six inches asunder. Immediately over this upper layer of bricks is a terrace floor composed of several layers of lime, pounded bricks, &c. in different degrees of fineness.* "
These works are also described by Pennant and Gough ; but the old reference noticed by Messrs. Lysons appears to be to the passage inserted in Horsley's " Britannia Romana," published in 1732. " In Bridge Street on the south side, under ' The Feathers ' stairs, adjoining to a cellar on the east, is a low room, the figure of which is a regular oblong. The roof is flat, and supported by several small pillars of stone about two feet high. Over each pillar is a Roman tile, nearly two feet square, and about three inches thick. Each of these tiles has a small hole or holes through it, about six inches distant from one another. The outer side of the tiles and holes is black, as if smoked. The floor is of rough stone and cement."
This room or furnace is still existing in the city, and is exhibited to visitors at sixpence each, under the title of " that ancient relique of the Romans the Bath and Hypocaust, pronounced by all antiquarians to be the greatest curiosity in Chester." It is now under a house adjoining to " The Feathers ;" and my own impression is that it was part of the furnaces of the baths adjoining ; but at pre- sent, as it is half filled with water from natural infiltration, it has very much the look of a small cold bath.
I trust that the plans, section drawings, and this short description, will make the nature of these remains quite intelligible. With respect to the period at which they were erected my own opinion is that they were built about a century before the Romans left Britain. The Chester journals mention coins of Claudius Gothicus, Constantmus II., and Constans, having been found in the excavations ; but I could not discover in whose possession they now remain.
In a former part of this letter I have referred to a very elaborate account of
» Magna Britannia, vol. ii. part i:.; County Palatine of Chester, pp. 428, 431; Horsley, Britannia Romana, p. 318.
VOL. XL. 2 P
290 Notes on Roman Architectural Remains
the remains found at Bath in the very splendid work originally produced by Mr. Samuel Lysons in 1802, which subsequently formed the second part of his " Reli- quiae Britannico-Romana}." The drawings for this beautiful publication were made by my excellent old friend Sir Robert Smirke ; and, like everything which he executed, are models of taste and accuracy. The reliques themselves are pre- served with great care in the museum at Bath, where I have often admired them ; and therefore I could not but be struck with the very remarkable similarity and general agreement between them and some of the remains recently discovered at Chester ; I have no doubt that they are all of the same age. As Mr. Lysons has given a restoration of the fagade of the temple at Bath, and of the order and entablature used in the architecture : in plate XVI. I have attempted to effect a similar composition out of the imperfect remains found at Chester. But he had an authority for the entablature upon the columns, which I had not ; though I had a much larger quantity of the buildings themselves.
The columns in the Bath temple were two feet four inches in diameter, and were fluted ; and the capitals and entablature were also highly decorated. At Chester the columns differ but little in diameter or height; but they are not fluted, nor are the capitals so much ornamented. From those columns which still remain in situ in the example at Chester, there is not the least difficulty in restoring the plan of the temple. It had, no doubt, a statue in the middle of it, as in the edifice at Bath, where also a beautiful fragment was found of part of a bronze head of Apollo with thin gold plating ; and I hope that even yet some similar reliques may be discovered at Chester.
I ought to state in defence of the plan which I have now laid before this Society, that, in the restoration proposed, there is but very little which can be attributed to fancy. The screen of columns fronting the street, as shown in the plan, is imaginary, but the foundation wall of it is really there. The appropriation of the apartments is also conjectural, but it is, nevertheless, reasonable, and consistent with ancient authorities. My opinion is, that fronting the great highway leading to the bridge, the temple and baths stood as they are here arranged ; but whether I am right or wrong in respect of this restoration, it is indisputable that the remains at Chester are some of the most remarkable monuments of Roman art now to be found in Britain ; though it is feared that, from the exigencies of the case, they have been by this time all taken away.
By the considerate favour of the Marquis of Westminster, to whom the ground belongs on which this building stood, and also by the meritorious exertions of Mr. Hodgkinson, his architect, the best of the remains have been carefully removed
SUGGESTED PLAN
OF THE PROBABLE STATE OF THE ROMAN TEMPLE AND BATH 8
CHESTER.
WITH A COMPARISON OFTHE COLUMNS AND ENTABLATURE FOUND IN A SIMILAR STRUCTURE AT BATH.
8UOOEBTED ELEVATION OFTEMPLE.
C H.£ S T £ R
RC9TOREDOOLUUN AND ENTABLATURE
CHESTER
O • Y « !-»• O
FRIOIDARIUM
TEPIDARIUM
APODYTEHIUHI
BRIDGE STREET
aoio«o«oiQ«j>goBOBO 190 FtET
SUGGESTED ELEVATION OFTEMPLE. BATH.
I I
RESTORED COLUMN AND ENTABLATURE BATH
W.TITS.OIftEXIT.
R BRASS. DEL
discovered in Cheater. 291
to the museum at Chester. To that gentleman, and also to the editors of the Chester journals, I am glad to record my thanks for the information which they so readily afforded me. Mr. Hodgkinson likewise most obligingly re-surveyed the whole site, and gave me many important particulars, sections, &c. by which I perfected the survey made by my able assistant Mr. H. Brass. I am further indebted for some curious photographs to Mr. Peacock, a local antiquary of the city, and to Mr. Hodgkinson.
It is a constant tradition in the ancient history of Chester, that it contained below the surface many vast works of a very early period, which had become subterranean only because mediaeval buildings and causeways had been from time to time constructed over them. The same observation is of course true in some degree of the other cities and towns of Britain which were ever occupied by the llomans; but the very names of Chester, in the form in which that nation expressed and understood them, implied a camp, a legionary station — in- valuable as it regarded the reduction of Ireland — and a city and a castle united" — " Cestria de Castris nomen quasi Castria sumpsit."
As if that Chester took a name,
Which Town and Castle made the same.
•' Dr. Stukeley in his Itinerary, vol. i. p. 59, ii. p. 30, indicates Chester by the name of Deva, placed in the margin of his text, which is a Romanised form of the British Dy/yr-Dwy, or the Water of Dee. As this river rises from two springs in Wales, the last word has beeu understood to signify two ; " but,'' says Camden, as translated by Philemon Holland, "others, also observing the signification of the word, interpret it as Black-water : others againe as the Water of God, and Divine Water. But, although Ausonius noteth that a spring hallowed to the gods was called Diuvona in the ancient Gaules tongue, which was all one with the British ; and in old time all rivers were reputed Aion-ereis, that is, descending from Heaven ; yea, and our Britons also yielded divine honour unto rivers, as Gildas writeth ; — yet I see not why they should attribute divine honour to this river Dwy above all others. Unlesse, peradventure, because it now and then changed the channel, and thereby foreshowed a sure token of victory to the inhabitants upon it, when they were in hostility one with another, according as it inclined more to this side or that after it had lefr. the channel : for thus hath Giraldus Cambrensis recorded, who in some sort believed it."
Selden, however, in one of his notes to the Eleventh Song of Drayton's Polyolbion, observes that Chester is " at this day in British called Caer Lhean ar Dour Divy, i. e. the City of Legions on the river Dee. Some vulgar antiquaries," he continues, " have referred the name of Leon to a giant, builder of it; I nor they know who he was, or when he lived ; but indeed they ridiculously took Lton Dour for King Leon the great." The sanctity of the Dee is repeatedly referred to by Drayton ; Spenser makes it the haunt of magicians ; and Milton laments that when Lycidas was lost the water-nymphs were not " where Deva spreads her wisard-stream." As Deva is intended to be the name of a female river-divinity, the prefix wisurd must be carefully understood in the sense of a diviner, as Wharton explains it from Comus.
2r2
292 Notes on Roman Architectural Remains
All the other designations by which this place is known in remote history, Leon Gaur, Caer Leon, Lhean ar Dour Dwy, or Leye Castria, indicate that it was the permanent residence of a great military force " for the Romans," as Daniel King expresses himself, " to keep the keys, as I may say, of Ireland, and preserve the limits of their empire." As this policy required the maintenance of a large standing army in Chester," which never could be always employed in hostile or military operations, the strength of it must often have been directed to the con- struction of those great works of architecture and civil-engineering, large remains of which appear to have been visible in the city down to the fourteenth century, if not to a much later period. The curious mediaeval chronicles by which the history of Chester has been so remarkably perpetuated contain many notices of these buildings, which the authors seem to have seen and known, even though they frequently took their thoughts and words from each other. One of them, called Roger of Chester, says, "When I behold the ground-work of buildings in the streets laid with strong huge stones, it seemeth that it has been founded by the painful labours of the Romans, or of giants, rather than by the industry of Britons." In this very natural observation seems to be contained the germ of the tradition that Chester was really founded by —
Leon Gauer, a mighty strong Giaunte,
Which builded caves and dungeons many an one.
But when Dr. Ormerod produced his excellent History of the County Palatine (upwards of forty years since), he says, " There are now no vaults known to be iii existence of the kind described in the Polychronicon. Under some of the rows is a series of vaults, probably once used as storehouses for mercantile purposes ; but none of these appear to be older than the fifteenth century."
It is quite possible that in many unknown places, and at unknown depths, in such cities and towns of England as were once occupied by the Romans, there may yet exist some great remains of large edifices, over which mediaeval struc- tures have been erected. Of their existence, however, and of the time when they were covered over, we know nothing ; but perhaps a plausible conjecture may be offered concerning the date when the Roman remains discovered at Chester first disappeared.
1 The Legion stationed at Deva, or Chester, was the twentieth, known by the name of Valeria Victrix ; and from the very great importance of the post, and the constant service required, it could not have con- tained less than the largest number of soldiers ; ten cohorts, or perhaps 5,000 men. It was one of the nineteen legions which Dion Cassius mentions to have been raised by Augustus.
discovered in Chester. 293
In A.D. 1335, Edward of Woodstock, Prince of "Wales, the famous Black Prince, was created the first permanent royal Earl of Chester ; and, after the battle of Crescy in 1346, he assumed the well-known device so frequently re- peated on the sides of his monument at Canterbury, of an escutcheon sable, charged with three ostrich feathers argent, quilled and set in sockets or ; each enfiled with a scroll inscribed tri) triftie. Some such device was in all probability the sign of the ancient hostel erected over the Roman- work at Chester ; and it shows both the reason why the house was known as "The Feathers," and the particular period when the more ancient remains were built upon. Prince Edward had already merited the gratitude of the citizens of Chester by having confirmed to them their former charters and liberties in another grant, dated March 9th 1341, the 15th year of Edward III., in which the boundaries of the city are all expressed by name.
I am, my dear Sir,
Tours very sincerely,
WILLIAM TITE.
NOTE. — In the course of the winter of the year in which this letter was read at the Society of Antiquaries, I received an intimation from Chester that Dr. Brushfield, a local antiquary, would read a paper on these remains ; he did so in two lectures given at meetings of the Chester Archaeological Society in 1864. He has also published in the Journal of the Archaeological Association for December 1866 an elaborate plan of the ruins, and some particulars of anti- quities found in Chester, and also in connection with these remains.
This plan is incorrect in one particular ; but, if I had known that Dr. Brush- field and the local antiquaries were taking so much pains, I might have been spared much of the labour referred to in this communication ; but all I could learn locally is explained in my letter. So far as I can make out, Dr. Brushfield thinks these remains were those of the Praetorium of Roman Chester. In the last paper referred to, and which I now take the liberty of quoting, he however speaks of a very curious fragment of an inscription or " inscribed slab," of which I was not informed, in Chester. Dr. Brushfield refers to it as follows : —
" Inscribed slab. — The last archaeological specimen from Chester is, perhaps, the most interesting one. It is a portion of a large incised slab, and was found lying adjacent to the external wall of the Roman apartments uncovered in Bridge Street. It was being carted away amongst some rubbish, but was fortunately
294 Notes on Hainan Architectural Remains in Chester.
recognised by Mr. John Peacock, who at once obtained possession of it. It is of a square oblong form, measuring 18 inches long, 8£ inches in its widest breadth, and 2 inches thick ; and is in two portions, which fit each other accurately. Its posterior surface is rough, and portions of concrete still adhere to it ; whilst its anterior is highly polished, and, when wetted, reveals the characteristic structure of Purbeck marble. It contains the remnants of two lines of an inscription, the upper consisting of portions of the letters o G and perhaps A ; whilst the lower contains the letters DOM, with a point before the D. All of these are well cut, are remarkably sharp, and bear full evidence of having been painted red. Between the lines on the left side is the mark of a blunt weapon, with a crack proceeding from it.
" The few remaining characters of the inscription afford us no clue either to their meaning or to the probable contents of the rest of the slab. The DOM. of the lower row may possibly have been a proper name ; but, as inscriptions fre- quently contain the words domus and dominus, it would be idle to attempt any explanation. Taking, however, all circumstances into consideration, viz. the large size of the Roman building on the site of which it was found ; the evident care displayed in selecting a durable material, and in subsequently giving its surface such a high polish ; the unusual size of the letters, and their colouring ; and the large size of the original slab ; we have sufficient data for offering the conjecture that it formed a portion of a dedicatory inscription on the erection or restoration of the building."
XIX. — On discoveries of Remains of the Roman Wall of London, by WILLIAM TITE, Esq., M.P., F.R.S., F.S.A. : in a letter to Frederic Ouvry, Esq., Treasurer.
Read Nov. 17th, 1864.
42, Lowndes Square, 5th November, 1864.
MY DEAB, SIR,
In April of the year 1854 I had the honour of addressing to you a letter on the subject of a tessellated pavement of considerable beauty which was disco- vered in Bishopsgate Street in digging for the foundation of Gresham House.
That paper was subsequently printed in the thirty-sixth volume of the Archseo- logia, and at page 209 the following passage occurs : —
" In the summer of 1853 the excavations on the north side of the Tower on Tower Hill showed in situ distinct remains of Roman work in part of the inclosure wall of Roman London on that side. Here the wall was composed of square tiles, with that very thick joint and accurate bond for which Roman builders were remarkable, and this piece of work might have been executed within the compass of ' The Seven Hills ;' but, excepting this brickwork, the Roman hypocaust in Thames Street, and the pavements uncovered in various places, I have never seen any Roman work which I felt sure of. It may be answered, that London was often sacked and burnt ; but still Roman edifices of stone are not so easily disposed of. In all ages such fragments have been made use of as building materials, and have in the course of tune been gradually brought to light. Bath, Gloucester, Cirencester, and other places can witness ; yet their entire absence in London convinces me that Roman London was a brick city, and, in the words of Tacitus, ' a place not dignified with the name of colony, but the chief residence of merchants.' '
The annexed woodcut is a small portion of the Plan of London copied from that published by the Society of Antiquaries, showing London as it existed in the time of Elizabeth.
290
On discoveries of the Remains of the
The cut shows the eastern side of the City, and this first frag- ment of Roman walling was dis- covered at the point marked A. At B a piece above ground still exists in a stable-yard.
Fifteen years ago the construc- tion of the Blackwall Railway showed it again at D ; though, as no memorandum was kept by the engineers, and I was not in Eng- land, I cannot indicate the exact situation ; but I know it was about the place where I have marked it, at D.a
It has happened in my profes- sional career that I have had much to do in building in this immediate neighbourhood, and traces of this wall have frequently occurred, but until the summer of this year nothing appeared of
,3*. Tower of London
a Since writing this letter my attention has been drawn to an account in a small literary publication of the day, in which the following description occurs:
" Mr. Crack recorded the appearance of the Wall as he saw it in 1841 laid bare for the works of the Blackwall Railway.
" Beneath a range of houses which have been in part demolished, in a court entering from the east side of Coopers Row, nearly opposite to Milbourne's Almshouses, and behind the south-west corner of America Square, the workmen, having penetrated to the natural earth — a hard, dry, sandy, gravel— came upon a wall seven feet six inches thick, running a very little to the west of the north, or parallel to the line of the Minories, which, by the resistance it offered, was at once conjectured to be of Roman masonry. When we saw it, it had been laid bare on both sides to the height of about six or seven feet, and there was an oppor- tunity of examining its construction, both on the surface and in the interior.
" The principal part of it consisted of five courses of squared stones, regularly laid, with two layers of flat bricks below them, and two similar layers above — the latter at least carried all through the wall — as represented in the drawing.
" The mortar, which appeared to be extremely hard, had a few pebbles mixed up with it ; and here and
Roman Wall of London. 297
any very distinct character, when the growing necessities of the trade of London led my friends Messrs. Joseph Barber, Turnbull, and Co., to project the con- struction of some extensive warehouses on the site of some old houses and yards in Cooper's Row. In August of this year their present architect, Mr. Clifton, called my attention to the very extensive remains of the London "Wall that he had uncovered, and brought me a photograph which I now exhibit.
I immediately visited the place with him, and we found that for a length of one hundred and ten feet from north to south, and for a height of twenty-five feet from the ancient surface of the ground, the London Wall had formed the boundary, as it still does, of these premises.
All the upper part was medieval, of an early date, faced principally with Kentish rag-stone, and the arches turned in the same material.
These arches were two in number, with the trace of a third. They were apparently intended for arrow-slits ; for, though the internal arch and recess is no less than five feet wide by six feet nine inches high, the external opening is only two feet high by nine inches in width. In the arches there are two steps, the lower one eleven inches high, with a tread of thirteen inches, and the upper one one foot seven inches high, with a tread of two feet. These steps appear to be for the standing or kneeling of the long-bow or cross-bow men.
All that part of the wall was no doubt further defended by a deep and broad ditch, and the bottom of the arrow-slits would probably be about fifteen feet above the natural level of the land or of the water in the ditch at high water, for, no doubt, it communicated with the Tower ditch and finally with the Thames.
In descending into the basement of the warehouses, I was pleased to find that the base of this wall was of regular Roman work, exactly as I had seen it further southward in 1853. It was built in the following manner : first, six courses of tolerably regular masonry three feet four inches high, then two courses of Roman bricks, then five more courses of masonry three feet four
there were interstices or air-cells, as if it had not been spread, but poured in among the stones. The stones were a granulated limestone, such as might have been obtained from the chalk quarries at Green- hithe or Northfleet. The bricks, which were evidently Roman, and, as far as the eye could judge, corre- sponded in size as well as in shape with those described by Woodward, had as fine a grain as common pottery, and varied in colour from a bright red to a palish yellow. A slight circular or oval mark — in some cases forming a double ring — appeared on one side of each of them, which had been impressed when the clay was in a soft state.
VOL. XL. 2 Q
298 On discoveries of Remain* of the
inches high, then, two more courses of Roman bricks, and then more masonry in courses until it meets the somewhat irregular medieval work. The bricks are of excellent make, and the mortar so hard that, though I much desired to present you with a whole brick, I have only succeeded in obtaining one in two pieces.
I now exhibit an elevation and section of this wall, which are represented in the accompanying engraving.
You will ask me to say what I think of this Roman wall, and when and why it was constructed, but I can tell you but little about it. It has led me however to look carefully into what is known of the walls of London, and it is somewhat singular that this Roman wall at the extreme east of London has turned up almost simultaneously with the undoubted discoveries of Roman walls almost at the extreme west, so graphically and ably described by our excellent colleague Mr. Black.
You will therefore obligingly take the remarks which follow as a tolerably complete sketch of the little that is known of the history, the construction, the direction, and the disappearance of the walls of London. In such a survey it is evident that I cannot attempt to produce any new matter ; nor can I hope to invest the record of our circumvallation with the antiquarian importance and picturesque interest which my friend Dr. Collingwood Bruce has given to the Roman wall of Northumberland. But the latter is considerably more than seventy-three miles in extent, and our metropolitan walls are not four miles in all. The northern wall is also still rich in inscriptions and sculptures, but there are few such noble records now remaining for Londinium, though it is quite possible that many such monuments might once have existed here also, which the imperative urgency of rebuilding a ruined city utterly disregarded and swept away.
Our first inquiry of course must be as to the Roman walls of London, and unluckily here our information is of the most meagre kind. It appears to me there cannot be any doubt that they had no existence in A.D. 61, when Suetonius left the place to destruction, as a post which he had not forces enough to defend, and which possessed no military strength in itself. Simeon of Durham, a credible English historian of the twelfth century, attributes the first walls of stone built around the City to the Empress Helena, about A.D. 306 ; but it is not improbable that they had been commenced long before, and that her works were really in completion of the older substructures. There do not appear to be any
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notices extant of a Roman legion stationed at Londinium : but some tiles have been found stamped " P. PR. BRI. LON :" an inscription supposed by Mr. Roach Smith to indicate the work of the first cohort of the Britons at London, and thus showing what soldiers were actually engaged on the works there.
As to the extent of the Roman walls and what they inclosed, history and tradition alike fail us, for, though Fitz-Stephen in the reign of Henry the Second speaks of high walls and towers on the north of the City, yet he says the southern wall had been washed away ; and the walls and towers on the north, as well as the gates, were no doubt Norman.
The only facts bearing on our present inquiry are those stated by Dr. Woodward as to the finding Roman foundations in the line of wall in Camomile Street in May 1707. His description, which is as follows, might well serve for an account of the works in Cooper's Row just described. He says —
" The foundation of the wall at this place was eight feet below the existing surface, and for nearly ten feet upwards the work appeared to be a Roman construction. It was composed," he says, " alternately of layers of broad flat bricks and of rag-stone. The bricks lay in double ranges ; and, each brick being one inch and three-tenths in thickness, the whole layer, with the mortar inter- posed, did not exceed three inches. The layers of stone were not quite two feet thick of our measure ; it is probable they were intended for two of the Roman, their rule being somewhat shorter than ours. In this part of the wall it is very observable that the mortar was (as usually in the Roman work) so very firm and hard, that the stone itself as easily broke and gave way as that." He further describes the superstructure of the wall as follows : " The outside, or that towards the suburbs, was faced with a coarse sort of stone, not compiled with any Teat care or skill, nor disposed into a regular method, but on the inside there appeared more marks of workmanship and art."
Woodward also mentions a range of the wall in a street called The Vineyard behind the Minories. "This," he says, "is the most considerable remains of Roman workmanship yet extant in any part of England that I know of."
J. T. Smith in his Ancient Topography of London, in referring to the line of London Wall from Winchester Street to Moorgate, which I well recollect, and which remained almost complete until April 1817, speaks of the foundation being under a layer of Roman bricks ; and a so-called Roman arch, just at the end of Winchester Street, shown by an imperfect sketch in Mr. Roach Smith's book, gives indications of Roman work existing there or thereabouts. Again, the
2Q2
300 On discoveries of Remains of the
remains followed up by Mr. Black at Paul's Chain, and the Roman foundations spoken of by me in 1854 as having been rooted up in Upper Thames Street, are all the real indications of the Roman walls of Roman London, for I consider the remains at Cripplegate churchyard, Ludgate, and Cripplegate, so elaborately shown by Mr. Archer, in his " Vestiges of London," not to be Roman at all.
I now return to the remains in Cooper's ROAV and its neighbourhood.
Above ground at C are the remains I have described in this paper ; further south- wards a long piece remains in a stable-yard or mews, and further southward still, abutting on Postern Row, were the foundations I saw in 1854. Mr. Archer speaks of the whole length as having been about seven hundred feet, and he gives a picturesque but not very accurate print of the arches I now show you, for he speaks of them as obtuse arches with a key-stone, whereas they are com- plete semicircles without key-stones, the latter a characteristic feature of Norman work. Among the few historical notices of this spot which I can find, is one from Strype, who says that after the Great Fire of 1666 an arched passage was broken through the wall for wheeled carriages which could not pass along the Postern Row. " And here," says Strype, " looking northwards, one may take a view of the inside and breadth of London Wall, which appears like a natural rock, with the stones so cemented into the work that nothing but the greatest violence can separate them. On the west side, from fourteen to fifteen feet high, are seen several old Roman bricks put into the work between the stones."
Of the piece above ground in Trinity Square there is a somewhat fanciful view in Mr. Archer's book, and a very correct one in the first volume of Wilkin- son's " Londina Illustrata."
I now return to the history of the fragment under discussion, according to my view of the age and character of the remains.
It appears, then, that when Archbishop Laugton and William Marshall, Earl of Pembroke, had failed in their first endeavours to prevail on King John to restore the ancient laws contained in the Great Charter, the associated Barons assumed their arms, and with their forces marched first to Northampton and thence to Bedford. They were favourably received there by William de Beau- champ, and there also came to them messengers from London, who privately advised them immediately to go thither. On this they advanced to Ware, and arrived at Aldgate, after a night-march, on May 24th, 1215, the Sunday before Ascension-day. "Finding the gates open," says Roger de Wcndover, "they entered the city without any tumult whilst the inhabitants were performing
Roman Wall of London. 301
divine service, for the rich citizens were favourable to the Barons, and the poor ones were afraid to complain of them." Having thus entered, they placed their own guards at each of the gates, and then disposed of all matters within the City to their own advantage, but especially despoiling and destroying the houses of the Jews. Two of their most powerful leaders, Robert FitzWalter and Geoffrey Mandeville, Earl of Essex, then actively set their forces to the repair of the gates, walls, and defences of London, in which were employed the stones taken from the Jews' dwellings. " Aldgate," says Randulphus de Coggeshalle, " being then most ruinous, which had given them such an easy entrance, they repaired, or rather new builded after the manner of the Normans, strongly arched with bulwarks of stone brought from Caen in Normandy, and small brick called Flanders tile was brought from thence, such as hath been here used since the Conquest, and not before."
This account, I have no doubt, explains all that I show you, and it re- markably corroborates the expression of the historian that these bulwarks were repaired with the stones pulled down from the Jews' houses. Those dwellings, it will be remembered, stood in a long road immediately adjoining this wall, then called " Poor Jewry Lane " and now Jewry Street. Above this rude masonry, to the height of about twenty-two feet, is a strong, well-built, compact wall of rubble work, like the outer wall of a Norman castle, containing the arched openings, whether for archers or ventilation to chambers built against the wall, and also agreeing with the statement of the historian, that the works were completed after the improved Norman manner of building, and with better materials. The closing up of the embrasures and the casing of other parts with brickwork of course belong chiefly to the time of the rebuilding of London after the Great Fire, the Act of Parliament for which is dated 1677 ; when the ancient wall was made use of for receiving the edifices to be again erected against it.
But, after all, the walls of London are historically medieval, and I perhaps cannot do better in concluding this paper than to describe what they really were as they were seen in the fifteenth century, after the restoration began in the year 1477, by Hugh Joscelyne, Lord Mayor.
The City Wall commenced near the point on the west where the river Flete discharged itself into the Thames, and thence passed up the present Bridge Street with a short oblique line along the Broadway to the south of Ludgate Hill, which is entered at the gate by St. Martin's Church. It then stretched up the Old Bailey and turned obliquely northward from Newgate Street
302 On discoveries of Remains of the
to Aldersgate Street, and afterwards continued in a long bending line, forming the way still known as London "Wall, to Aldgate. From this entrance the wall was continued in a line nearly parallel with the Minories, by Cooper's Row, to the Tower; through which Lord Coke declares that it is to be regarded as extending to the Thames. All that locality therefore which is on the western side of the wall is within the City of London, in the Tower ward and the parish of All Hallows Barking, and all the remainder is in the county of Middlesex. The entire extent of this line of wall is estimated at ten thousand and sixty-five feet. The superficial contents of the space within the walls is only about three hundred and eighty acres, in consequence of the irregularity of the lines of the circuit. Against the wall, and also upon it, there were erected fifteen small bulwarks and watch-towers; and the City was entered by seven principal gates on the land side, and many small posterns and water-gates next the river. The wall and towers, however, once standing on the south side, had disappeared even in the time of Fitz-Stephen ; who says " that the fish-abounding river of Thames, with his continual ebbing and flowing, hath long since subverted them."
The uniform evidence of the contemporaneous plans of London by Aggas about 1561, by Faithorne in 1657, and by Ogilby and Morgan in 1675, shows that the original western wall of the City was then considered to extend in a right line along the eastern side of the present Bridge Street, Blackfriars. But Mr. Roach Smith, in his Illustrations of Roman London published in 1859 (p. 18), denies this direction; and says "from Ludgate the Roman wall did not take a direct line towards the Thames. It traversed the ground now occupied by Printing-house Square and the office of the Times newspaper ; and about that spot diverged towards St. Andrew's Hill, passing to the south of Saint Andrew's church ; where, although not a stone of it is visible, its course is clearly indicated by the abrupt ascent ; at Rutland Place, in particular, a flight of no less than twenty steps is to be explained by no other cause than that of the sub- terranean masonry upon which the houses have been partly built." The description which is contained in this extract is probably quite accurate, but the statement with which it commences is incorrect, for the wall referred to was no part of the most ancient circumvallation of London. It was really a substitutory barrier erected by the authority of King Edward I. in A.D. 1282, to replace such parts of the original wall as might have been taken down by Robert Kilwarby, Archbishop of Canterbury, for the extension of the church of the Blackfriars. It was to be erected from Ludgate westward to Flete Bridge, behind the houses,
Roman Wall of London. 303
and thence along the course of the stream down to the Thames. For the execution of the work of the City walls in general the same sovereign had in A.D. 1276 granted a considerable charter or murage tax, but in the year 1310 Edward II. required the citizens to complete the wall already commenced, with a certain new tower standing at the head of it, near to the dwelling of the Eriars Preachers ; in aid of which, in 1316, he issued a further grant of customs on certain articles sold in the City. The massive remains of this tower were discovered in consequence of a fire behind the south side of Ludgate Hill, May 1st, 1792, and the ruins of the turret are represented in Mr. J. T. Smith's Ancient Topography of London.
It projected fourteen feet north from the wall on which it stood in the City ditch, and it measured twenty-two feet above the height of the wall. The masonry is represented to have been very strong, but exceedingly rude, consist- ing of fragments of stone, chalk, and flint, consolidated by fluid lime, which required the insertion of wedges to divide it into separate parts. The murage- grants appear to have been both insufficient for their intended purpose and mis- chievous in their results ; since the duties levied lessened the supply of provisions brought to London, and the walls were not duly repaired. Edward II., there- fore, issued several other royal letters, commanding that the works should be executed ; and at length, about 1319, the duties were altogether taken off. But it should be also observed, that the sovereigns themselves sometimes appro- priated these funds to other persons and purposes.
In the year 1477, however, Ralph Joscelyne, an energetic Lord Mayor, com- menced the greatest and most effectual restoration of the City walls which was ever attempted. The course he took is thus described : —
" He first caused Moorfields to be carefully searched for clay, and bricks to be made there ; and likewise lime to be burned for mortar, from chalk brought out of Kent. The line which was rebuilt at this time extended from Aldgate to Cripplegate. The eastern extremity of it, from Bevice or Bevis Marks at Aldgate to Bishopsgate, was erected by the Skinners' Company. Bishopsgate was now built by the German merchants of the Stiliard from Bishopsgate to the church of All Hallows on the Wall : the work was executed by Joscelyne the Mayor and the Company of Drapers. A great part of the wall westward to Moorgate was supplied by the executors and property of Alderman Crosby; other Companies carried it on to the postern at Cripplegate, and the Goldsmiths rebuilt it to Aldersgate, where the work ceased."
Very large masses of this medieval wall, with trees of considerable size grow-
304 On discoveries of Remains oftlie
ing upon them, were long to be seen in several parts of the vicinity of Moor- fields.
One of the finest portions of the work, however, remained entire until ahout April 1817, standing on the north side of the street called London Wall, inclo- sing the whole of the back of Bethlem Hospital, and, in particular, the great chimney-shaft of the furnace. Two very interesting etchings of these remains were published by Mr. John Thomas Smith, in 1814, in his " Ancient Topo- graphy of London," with a careful account of their structure. He states that the whole line extended seven hundred and fourteen feet from opposite the end of Winchester Street, almost to the site of Moorgate. It appears to have risen nearly sixteen feet above the pavement. In some places the wall was about eight feet in thickness, and it consisted, first, of an interior concretion of chalk and flint, eight feet high, strongly cemented together, and cased on each side with rubble work of rag-stone. On the width of two feet three inches on the north side of this base was erected an embattled brick wall eight feet high, with stone copings, ornamented with lozenge compartments inserted in glazed bricks ; the spaces between the battlements measured two feet and a half. The lower cased wall was covered with two layers of brick or tile, of unusual dimensions, being thirteen and a half inches by five and a quarter inches, and two and a half inches in thickness. They were of a rich deep red, extremely close and hard, and Mr. J. T. Smith conjectured that they might possibly be some of those already noticed as having been made in Moorfields. The same artist has also published a representation of a similar fine piece of the embattled London Wall, as it appeared in April 1793, as the boundary of the churchyard of Saint Giles Crip- plegate. Chiefly from the depredations committed on it by the inhabitants of the adjoining premises, the wall became so mutilated that the parish authorities applied to the Corporation of London for repairs, and it was at length arranged that, as the City had no further occasion to keep up the walls, the parish should be entitled to so much thereof as bounded their property to forty feet wide and about ten feet deep, which appeared greatly to increase the strength and height of the bulwark.
The fosse which surrounded London was .of a very much later date than the original walls, since it was commenced only in the end of the twelfth century, and was executed principally about the year 1213, being, apparently, suggested by the formation of the moat round the Tower. In its best condition and situ- ation it is stated to have been two hundred feet broad, and of the character of a
Roman Wall of London. 305
clear river, containing good fish; and Ralph Joscelyne, the Lord Mayor who restored the City walls, caused the whole dyke to be cleared out in the year 1477. The particular local interests of residents in the vicinity, the erection of buildings on the banks, and especially the ceaseless expense and difficulty of clearing the channels and watercourses, at length gradually and effectually closed up the City ditches, which are now represented by the sewers of the City. For, if the plans published by the Commissioners of Sewers are consulted, it will be seen that the line of the walls of the City is always to be traced by the large sewers.
Against the eastern wall, as it is delineated in Aggas's plan, between Aldgate and Postern Row, there were shown four semicircular towers ; and on the north wall, between Aldgate and Moorgate, there appear to have been as many tall square towers. The only remains of such turrets now existing are some parts of the round cases, containing ancient linings, in the churchyard of Saint Giles Cripplegate, as previously referred to.
I append a list (so far as I can ascertain it) of views representing various portions of the ancient walls of London, and with this list I shall conclude this letter.
I am, my dear Sir,
Yours very truly,
WILLIAM TITE.
APPENDIX.
List oj Books and Prints illustrative of the Remains of the Walls of London.
ANTIQUITIES OF LONDON AND ITS ENVIRONS, by JOHN THOMAS SMITH. London, 1791, 4to.
Part of London Wall in the Churchyard of Saint Giles' Cripplegate; published May 10th, 1792.
London Wall: Remains of the Tower discovered after the fire on Ludgate Hill, May 1st, 1792.
A Front View of the Watch-tower discovered near Ludgatc Hill, with a small plan show- ing the site of it.
Venerable Remains of London Wall in the Churchyard of Saint Giles, Crippelgate; published September 29th, 1800. (Exterior casing of a semi-circular tower.)
Barber-Surgeons Hall, from the church of Saint Giles' Cripplegate. (Exterior modern
casing of a semi-circular tower.) VOL. XL. 2 R
306 Appendix.
A VIEW of part of the antient REMAINS of LONDON WALL now standing near POSTERN Row, TOWER HILL, in the parish of All Hallows Barking, September 1818. Schnebbelie del. Dale sculp.; published January 1819 by R. WILKINSON, 125, Fenchurch Street.
ANCIENT TOPOGRAPHY OF LONDON, by J. T. SMITH. London, 1815, 4to.
Inside View of the Watch-tower discovered near Ludgate Hill, May the 1st, 1792; drawn in June 1792; published November 21st, 1813.
Parts of London Wall and Bethlem Hospital; drawn in June 1812; published Sep- tember 15th, 1814.
South-west View of Bethlem Hospital and London Wall; drawn in August 1814; pub- lished September 15th, 1814.
A venerable Fragment of London Wall as it stood in the Churchyard of Saint Giles' Crip- plegate in 1793, since which period the battlements have been taken down, and in 1803 a brick wall was erected in their stead, at the expense of the parish; drawn in April 1793; published January 14th, 1812.
VESTIGES OF OLD LONDON : a series of etchings, from original drawings, illustrative of the monuments and architecture of London in the first, fourth, twelfth, and six succeeding centuries; with descriptions and historical notices by JOHN WYKEHAM ARCHER. London, 1851, 4to.
London Wall : Tower Postern.
London Wall: Saint Martin's Court, Ludgate Hill.
London Wall : Base of a Tower in the Churchyard of Saint Giles' Cripplegate.
London Wall: Cripplegate Postern.
London Wall: South Wall of Cripplegate Postern.
London Wall : Remains near Trinity Square.
Interior of a Tower belonging to the Wall of London, Old Bailey.
Road uniting Roman London.
ILLUSTRATIONS OF ROMAN LONDON, by CHARLES ROACH SMITH. London, 1859.
The Wall at Tower Hill. Roman Arch, London Wall.
307
XX.— On the Mantle and the Ring of Widowhood. By HENRY HARROD, Esq.
F.S.A.
Bead February 16th, 1865.
SIR HARRIS NICOLAS printed in the Testamenta Vetusta an Abstract of the Will of the Lady Alice West of Hinton Marcel, widow of Sir Thomas West, dated in 1395, and proved in the Prerogative Court of Canterbury."
In this will occurs a remarkable bequest which the learned editor found him- self quite at a loss to explain. She bequeathed to her son Thomas, amongst other things, " a ring with which I was yspoused to God."
Sir Harris rightly says, this could not have been her marriage ring, and it was clear she had not entered a convent. This is still more clearly made out by a reference to the transcript of the will in the registers of the Prerogative Court. It will there be seen she exercised complete control over her property, real and personal, and she makes this will at " the Lord's Inn of Cherlton without New- gate, in the parish of Saint Sepulchre, in the suburb of London.
Gough, in his Sepulchral Monuments,1" quotes a story from Matthew Paris, of one Cecily Sandford, a lady of condition, who on her deathbed, having passed through the usual forms with her confessor, and he ordering her attendants to take off a gold ring he observed on her finger, she, although just expiring, recovered herself enough to tell them she would never part with it, as she intended to carry it to heaven with her into the presence of her celestial spouse in testimony of her constant observance of her vow, and to receive the promised reward. She had it appears made a vow of perpetual widowhood, and with her wedding ring assumed the russet habit, the usual sign of such a resolution. It is
• Register Rous, 29. b Vol. i. p. cxix.
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308 On the Mantle and Ring of Widowhood.
added that she was honorably interred in St. Alban's Abbey Church, in a stone coffin, before the altar of St Andrew, on account of her vow and her rank.
In the " Colchester Chronicle," portions of which are printed in Cromwell's History of Colchester, one entry appears to confirm the conjecture that the whole was composed in the fourteenth or fifteenth century, " Anno Dm ccciij Helena mortuo Constancio perpetuam vovit viduitatcm."
From a careful inspection of the registers at Doctors' Commons it is abund- antly clear that the custom extensively prevailed in the middle ages of widows taking a vow of chastity and receiving a peculiar robe and ring. It was this latter, no doubt, that Lady Alice West gave her son ; it could hardly have boen her wedding ring, as will, I think, be established by some of the following extracts.
By the testament of Katharine Rippelingharn," dated 8th February 1473, who calls herself " advowes," she desires to be buried in the church of Baynardes Castell of London, where she was a parishioner, and by her will, in which she gives herself the title of " widow advowes," she shows herself in the full exercise of her rights of property, devising estates, carrying out awards, and adjusting family differences, and in an undated codicil she bequeaths to her daughter's daughter, Alice Saint John, " lieryold ring with a diamante sette therein wherewith she was ' sacrid.' '
Sir Gilbert Denys, knight, of Syston,b 1422 :-
" If Margaret my wife will after my death vow a vow of chastity, I give her all my moveable goods, she paying my debts and providing for my children; and, if she will not vow a vow of chastity, I desire my goods may be distributed or divided into three equal parts, &c."
John Brakenbury l in 1187 leaves his mother certain real estate " with that con- dicion that she never mary, the which she promised afore the parson and the parish of Thymmyllc ; and, if she kcpc not that promise, I will she be content with that which was my fader's will, which she had every peny."
William Herbert, knight, Lord Pembroke,11 in his will, dated 27th July 14G9, thus appeals to his wife, " And, wife, that ye remember your promise to take the order of widowhood, as ye may be the bettor maistres of your owen, to perform my will, and to help my ehildern, as I love and trust you."
William Edlington, esquire, of Castle Carlton, on the llth June 1406, says in his will, " I make Christian my wife my executor upon this condicion, that she
« Register Watts, 114. b Register March, fo. 424.
<•' Register Milles, 43. " Register Godyn, 228.
On the Mantle and Ring of Widowhood. 309
take the mantle and the ring soon after my decease ; and, if case be that she will not take the mantle and the ring, I will that William my son (and other persons therein named) be my executors, and she to have her third part of all my goods moveable."
Lady Joan Danvers," in 1453, gives the ring of her profession of widowhood to the image of the crucifix near the north door of St. Paul's.
And Lady Margaret Davy," widow, in 1489, leaves her profession ring to our Lady of Walsingham.
Many more extracts might be added, but there is sufficient here to establish the fact of the extensive prevalence of the custom, and to satisfy every one that the mysterious bequest of Lady Alice "West indicates that she too had taken the vow of chastity, and that the ring she left her son was not her wedding-ring, but the ring of her profession of widowhood, the ring with which she was " espoused to God."
Gough prints the Act of Court from the Ely Registers, on the taking the vow by Isabella Countess of Suffolk in 1382. This took place at the priory of Camp- sey, in the presence of the Earl of "Warwick, the Lords Willoughby, Scales, and others. The vow was as follows : " Jeo Isabella, jadys la femme William do Ufford, Count do Suffolk, vowe a Dieu, &c. en presence de tres reverentz piers en Dicu evesques de Ely et de Norwiz, qe jeo doi estre chaste d'ors eu. avant ma vie durante." And the Bishop of Ely, with authority of the Bishop of Norwich, (in whose diocese Campsey was,) received and admitted the same " et mantellum sive clamidem ac annulum dicte voventis solempniter benedixit et imposuit super eam."c
Dugdale, in his history of Warwickshire and in his Baronage, prints a licence from John Bishop of Lichfield to one N. N., to administer the vow of chastity to Margery, widow of Richard Middlemore, who died 15th Henry VII., which contains this passage : " In signum hujusmodi continentioc ct castitatis promisso perpctuo servando eandem Margeriam vclandam seu pcplandam habituinque viduitatis hujusmodi viduis, ut prsefcrtur, ad castitatis professioncm dari et uti consuetum cum unico annulo assignandum."d
Dugdale also prints an Act of Court on the vow being taken by Philippa, sometime the wife of Sir Guy of Warwick, on the 9th of August, 1300, in
11 Register Stockton, 85. " Register Milles, 1G8.
c Gough, vol. I. p. cxix. who quotes Register Fordham, Bishop of Ely. fo. 39 b.
11 Dugdale's Warwickshire, p. 895.
310 On the Mantle and Ring of Widowhood.
the collegiate church of the Blessed Mary of Warwick, which vow ran thus : " En le nom de la Seint Trinite, Piere et Fitz et Seint Esprit, jeo Philippe, que fu la feme Sire Guy de Warwick, face purement et dez queor et volontee entire- ment avow a Dieu et Seint Eglise et a la henure Virgin Marie et a tout la bele compaigne celestine et a vous reverend piere en Dieu Sire Reynaud, per la grace Dieu Evesque de Wyrcestre, que jeo ameneray ma vie en chastitee desore en avant, et chaste sera de mon corps a tout le temps de ma vie."*
A good specimen of the form of the mantle of the professed widow may be seen in the brass of Lady Joan Braham, Prenze, Norfolk, dated 1519 ; she is de- scribed in the inscription as " vidua ac Deo dicata." It is engraved in Cotman's Brasses, vol. i. 53. Among the drawings collected by the late Mr. Dawson Turner, illustrative of Blomeficld's History of Norfolk, (now in the British Museum,) is one of a brass in Witton Church, Norfolk, representing an elderly female in wimple and mantle, with the following inscription : —
©rate p' a'i'a to'ne 3fultanr Sngell Votrtcts cuj' a'i'e p'ptctet' 29e'.
• Dugdale's Warwickshire, p. 399.
311
XXI. — On an Inventory of the Household Goods of Sir Thomas Ramsey, Lord Mayor of London 1577. By F. W. FAIRHOLT, Esq. F.S.A.
Read May 25, 1865.
THE value of Wills and Inventories as exponents of the domestic lives of our ancestors cannot be too highly estimated. To them we must look as to the most fertile sources from whence a knowledge is to be obtained of that curious un- written history, the history of the people. The glimpses they afford of domestic manners are all the more precious, because of their rarity elsewhere.
The document to which I now solicit attention is remarkable for the complete and minute picture it presents of the establishment of a rich merchant, and Lord Mayor of London, in the days of Queen Elizabeth. Sir Thomas Ramsey, of whose goods this is an inventory, was a member of the Grocers' Company, served the office of Mayor in 1577, and died 1590, a benefactor to his Company ; leaving them gratuities to be mentioned hereafter.
Sir Thomas appears to have made his residence at his place of business, for we have here the detailed account of the " spice howse," with its scales, weights, and other appurtenances ; the "compting howse in the yard " is also duly noted. The establishment was situated in Lombard Street ; a brief note appended to the list of Mayors in Strype's edition of Stowe informs us that it was " over against Abchurch Lane end, where Sir Martin Bowes before lived." Sir Thomas, in his will, speaks of it as " my mansion house ; " and it was evidently a large and important building, standing conspicuously in a leading thoroughfare, with a garden in the rear ; thus bearing resemblance to that of Sir Paul Pinder in Bishopsgate Street, which still stands facing the highway, and had " a garden- house " behind, only demolished at the early part of the present century. The inventory mentions rooms "next to the streete." There appears to have been a lodge at the entry of a court-yard ; the hall was well furnished with long tables and " joyned stooles," and had the unusual luxury of a "longe greene carpett." It was decorated with shields of arms, and supplied with halberds, lances, and horseman's staves. There was a large reserve of warlike implements, kept in an
312 On an Inventory of the Household Goods
armoury-house attached to the mansion. The parlour was furnished with a table capable of elongation on festive occasions, with eighteen " joyned stooles," as well as chairs covered with velvet and kersey, and "stooles of needlework " for the chief guests. A Turkey carpet, five yards long, is also enumerated, so that the hall must have had a stately effect. A " painted chamber," and a " matted chamber," are named among the rooms in the house ; which appears to have been large, and connected by a gallery with a " garden chamber." In the yard was a well, for the necessary supply of the house in days when water could only be obtained from public fountains, sometimes at a considerable distance, or purchased from water-carriers. The " garden chamber " seems to have been originally used as a bed-chamber. The servants' offices appear to have been most convenient and well-furnished.
There are many items in this inventory that illustrate, or are illustrated by, the works of Shakespeare ; the trundle beds, the joined stools, the andirons, the buck-basket, the " playing tables," the parcel-gilt goblets, as well as the eight gold rings of the wealthy alderman, recall passages in the plays of our great dramatist. The bedstead and its furniture, allowed to the widow, also illustrate one remarkable bequest in the poet's will.
The large amount of personal display indicated by the quantity and variety of plate enumerated, as well as the valuable nature of Sir Thomas's wardrobe, tells of an age when it was considered essential for a gentleman, or a rich merchant, to clearly indicate his position by his dress and his home.
Although the incidents of Sir Thomas Ramsey's career have not descended to our time, he must have been well known in his own era, as both himself and his wife figure among the chief characters in the second part of Heywood's play, founded on the chief events in the life of Queen Elizabeth, and entitled, " If you know not me, you know no bodie." The first edition was printed in 1609. The impression there given of Ramsey, is that of a rich litigious man, while his wife appears as a persistent peacemaker. She comes first upon the scene in company with Dr. Nowell, Dean of St. Paul's, requesting him to mediate between her husband and the more celebrated Sir Thomas Gresham, who have been opponents in a lawsuit for seven years. The lady argues : —
such as they,
Men of the chiefest note within this city,
To be at such a jar doth make me blush,
Whom it doth scarce concern : you are a good man ;
Take you the cause in hand, and make them friends:
'Twill be a good day's work, if it so ends.
of Sir Thomas Ramsey. 313
Dr. Nowell. — My Lady Ramsey, I have heard, ere this,
Of their contentions, their long suit in law ; How by good friends they have been persuaded both, Tet both but deaf to fair persuasion. What good will my word do with headstrong men ? Breath, blown against the wind, returns again. Lady K.— Although to gentlemen and citizens
They have been so rash, yet to so grave a man, Of whom none speak, but speak with reverence, Whose words are gather'd in by every ear, As flowers receive the dew that comforts them, They will be more attentive. Pray, take it in hand: 'Tis a good deed ; 'twill with your virtue stand.
Sir Thomas now enters, and soon afterward Gresham, accompanied by a friend, " old Hobson," a roughly-honest haberdasher, who at once proposes to act as umpire with the Dean. The scene thus continues : —
Gresham.— I'll have you both know, though you are my friends,
I acorn my cause should stoop or yield to him,
Although he be reputed Ramsey the rich. Ramsey. — And Gresham shall perceive that Ramsey's purse
Shall make him spend the wealth of Osterley,
But he shall know
Gresham. — Know ! What shall I know ? Ramsey. — That Ramsey is as good a man as Gresham. Gresham. — And Gresham is as good a man as Ramsey. Ramsey. — Tut, tut, tut !
Gresham. — Tut in thy teeth, although thou art a knight. Hobson. — Bones o' me, you are both to blame.
We two, like friends, come to conclude your strife,
And you, like fish-wives, fall a-scolding here.
Dr. Nowell. — How stands the difference 'twixt you, my good friends ? Lady R. — The impatience both of the one and other
Will not permit to hear each other speak.
I'll tell the cause for both ; and thus it is.
There is a lordship, called Osterley,
That master Gresham hath bought and built upon ;
Which Osterley, before he dealt therin,
Sir Thomas, my husband here, did think to buy, . And had given earnest for it.
Ramsey. — Then, Gresham, here, deals with the land-seller,
And buys my bargain most dishonestly.
This imputation lashes Gresham to fresh fury, and the quarrel rages higher, but is VOL. XL. 2 s
On an Inventory of the Household Goods
ultimately argued down, and compromised by the Dean as umpire. This long scene takes place in Lombard Street, the rendezvous of merchants, and is con- cluded in a storm of rain, which induces Gresham to determine on building his Exchange ;
That merchants and their wives, friend and their friends, Shall walk underneath it, as now in Paul's.
They adjourn to a reconciliatory banquet at the Dean's house ; who afterwards takes them into a picture gallery filled with portraits of charitable citizens. Among them are two ladies, whose deeds being rehearsed to Lady Ramsey, she exclaims : —
Why should I not live so, that being dead, My name might have a register with theirs.
Sir Thomas is afterwards introduced, as Lord Mayor, at the opening of the Exchange ; but he has little to say or do, but that little is made to indicate a parsimonious character. We next hear of his mortal sickness and his charitable intentions. Lady Ramsey afterwards appears as a widow ; and a long scene ensues, in which the young spendthrift nephew of Gresham endeavours to induce the rich old lady to marry him. True to the respect with wlu'ch Heywood seems to have desired to invest her character, she aids him with her cash, but most sensibly declines his suit.
I am unable to substantiate these incidents of Heywood's drama by docu- mentary evidence. It is probable that they were well known at the time of its production, for an ordinary London audience would be critical in such matters. At all events it shadows forth the popular character of Sir Thomas. As regards the quarrel with Gresham, a reference to Burgon's valuable life of that great merchantman, though no mention is made thereof, establishes its probability ; as he tells us that he had "much difficulty" in properly establishing himself at Osterley Park, and securing the Manor of Heston (Middlesex) in which it was situated."
Sir Thomas was the son of John Ramsey of Edenbridge, near Westerham, in Kent; and he remembered its " poore inhabitants" by gratuities in his will.
• Osterley seems to have been a favourite residence of Gresham's. It was here Queen Elizabeth visited him 1576, and the characteristic incident occurred as narrated by Fuller, which showed the rich' citizen's perfect courtiership. The Queen found fault with his court-yard as too large, and said it would be better if divided by a wall; Gresham sent for workmen who put up a wall in the night, that Her Majesty on waking might find her idea carried out.
of Sir Thomas Ramsey. 315
His charitable thoughtfulness toward the poor is abundantly shewn therein. This document has other claims on our attention for the picture it affords of the manners of his era. He particularly desires to have a stately funeral ; and leaves a sum of money for a dinner on that day in Grocers' Hall ; and also directs that another be prepared in his own mansion, to which the Lord Mayor and Aldermen are to be invited, as well as all his neighbours, and such others as his executors think good.
The tendency of the courtiers to borrow of the richer citizens is shewn in another item, where he names the loan of £587 to Queen Elizabeth's favourite, Robert Earl of Leicester.
The following are copies of the two wills ; one disposing of personal, the other of landed property : —
TESTAMENTUM DOMINI THOME RAMSEY, MILITIS, ET ALDERMANNI CIVITATIS LONDINI.
IN THE NAME OF GOD AMEN. The twentith daye of September in the seaven and twentithe yere of the raigne of our soveraigne Ladle Quene Elizabeth I Syr THOMAS RAMSEY Knighte and Alderman of ye cittie of London beinge of good and perfect remembrance laude and prayse be unto Allmightie God do make and ordeyne this my present tcstamcnte and laste will concerninge the disposicion of all my goodes moveable and unmoveablc whatsoever in manner and forme following That is to saye first and principallye I commend my soule unto Allmightie God my Creator and maker and do trust that thorough the deathe and passion of Jesu Christe his only begotten sonne my Redeemer and by his merittes to be saved And my bodie I will to be burycd in the parishe churche in London where I nowe dwell And my will and my rnyride ys that all my goodes moveable and unmoveable whatsoever after my decease shalbe by twoe or fower indifferent persons to be appoynted and sworne by the Alderman of that warde where I dwell trulye and indifferentlye appraysed by theire juste values And the same goodes so apprayscd (after my debtes and funeralls payed) I will accordinge to the laudable custome of the citie of London shalbe devided into twoe equall partes whereof the one equall parte shalbe and rcmayne to my welbcloved wife Dame Mary Ramsey for her reasonable parte and porcion of all my saied goodes to her belonginge according to the custome of the saied cittie And the other moitie orhalfe I reserve to my selfe therwithe to perforine my legaceys in this my present testamente and last will contcyned Of which moitie or one halfe First I give and bequeathe to the poore children in Christes Ilospitall twentie poundes To the poore in Saincte Bartholomewes Hospitall twentie poundes To the poore in Saincte Thomas Hospitall in Sowthwarkc twentie powndes To the poore prysoners of Newgate and Ludgate to cither of them fyve poundes To bothc the compt" in London to either of them fower poundes To the poore inhabitauntes dwellinge within ye warde of Cheapc to be distributed by the discretion of the aldermen of the same warde seaven poundes To the poore prisoners in the Quenes Benche and the White Lyon to either of them fortie shillinges To the poore prisoners in the Marshalsea^fiftie three shillinges fower pence To the poore inhabitauntes in Croydon tenne poundes To the poore inhabitauntes of Eaton Bridge in the countie of Kente tenne poundes
2s2
316 On an Inventory of the Household Goods
To the poore inhabitauntcs in the parishe where I now dwell to be delyvered within tenne dayes after my Buryall tenne poundes To threeskore and twelve poore men to attende uppon my corpes to my buriall to every of them a gowne price sixe shillinges eighte pence the yarde to be ready made for them And to every of the said poore men I give in ready money eight pence Which I esteeme in the whole will amounte to one hundrethe poundes Item I give and bequeathc to William Ramsey my eldest brothers sonne in money fyve hundred poundes and a blackc gowne To Frauncys Tyrrell my sisters sonne twoe hundred poundes and a blacke gowne To Thomas Tyrrell grocer my sisters sonne twoe hundred poundes and a blacke gowne And I give to his daughters that shalbe ly vinge at my decease two hundred poundes equally amongest them to be devided Item I give to Thomas Taylor my sisters sonne one hundred poundes and to him and his wife to either of them a blacke gowne And I give to his daughters that shalbe living at my decease equally amongeste them one hundred poundes To William Taylor his brother my sisters sonne two hundred poundes To my cosen Alice Farrington one hundred poundes To Edith Parseloe her sister twcntie poundes To my sister Hebbarde tenne poundes To my sister Tirrel of Croydon twentie poundes and to her daughter Joane fyve poundes To John Tirrell my sister Tirrells sonne tenne poundes To my cosen Richard Dane servaunte with Thomas Marten grocer twentie poundes To George Dane his brother fyve poundes To Anne Joan and Emme Dane his sisters to every of them fyve poundes Item my will and mynde ys and I give and bequeath to Mary Wanton wife of John Wanton twoe hundred poundes To Richard Wcyver my sisters sonne one hundred poundes and a black coatc To my sister Weyvcr his mother fyve poundes To my cozen Emme Theare one hundred poundes and to her husbande and her to either of them a blacke gowne and to theire children that shalbe living at my decease equally amongest them one hundred pounds Item I give and bequeathe to Edward Holmeden and Elizabeth his wife to cither of them a blacke gowne And to her son Thomas Holmeden my godson one hundred poundes Item I give and be- queathe to Anne Whiteheadc my servaunte fyve poundes To John Reynoldes my servauute fyve poundes and to all the restc of my servauntes that dwell with me at my decease to everie of them fiftie shillinges over and above theire wages and blackc at the discretion of my executors Item I give to my sister Elizabeth Glascockes twoe children to cither of them tenne poundes. To Mistres Kelk my wyves sister tenne poundes and a blacke gowne Item I give to ye warden and lyverye of the companye of the Grocers for a dynner to be made at theire haule the day of my buriall twentie poundes Item I do give and bequeath to the wardens and comynaltic of the mystcrye or companye of the Grocers of the cittie of London for a stocke to remayne with them for ever the somme of twoe hundred poundes And my will and minde ys that the same stocke shalbe delyvered by the wardens of the same companye for the tyme beingc to fower younge men of the same companye beinge retaylors to everie of them fiftie poundes a peecc freelie without payinge any thinge for the same savinge twelve pence-for makinge of an obligacion they and every of them puttinge in good and sufficiente sewerties for repayment thcrof at the ende of twoe yeres and then to delyver the same to fower other younge men of the same companye for twoe yeres more with like sewerties And so to contynewe from twoe yeres to twoe yercs in the occupying of fower younge men of the saied companye in forme aforesaid for ever Item I will that my executors shall cause twentie sermons to be made within twoe yercs after my decease in the parishe churche
of Sir Thomas Ramsey. 317
where I nowe dwell called Saincte Mary Wolnothes by some good and godlie preacher by them to be provided And they to have for everie sermon sixe shillinges eighte pence for theire paines Item I give and bequeathe to my welbeloved wife a blacke gowne And I do give and bequeathe to my Lord Mayor for the tyme beinge so that he will come to my buryall a blacke gowne and to the sworde bearer a blacke gowne I give and bequeathe to the Lady Ryvers a blacke gowne To my deputie of my warde that shalbe at the tyme of my decease and to his wife to either of them a blacke gowne To Mr. Sergaunt Fleetwood Recorder of London a black gowne To Mr. Seabrighte towne clarke a blacke gowne To Mr. Dalbye one of the Lorde Mayors clerks a blacke gowne To Mr. Buckmaster a black gowne And further my will and minde ys that my wife shall have yf she will a reasonable parte or some convenientc portion by the discretion of my executors of my plate and householde stufie she payinge to my executors for the same as yt shalbe praysed And my will and minde ys that ray executors shall make a dynner the day of my buryall in my nowe dwellinge house wherunto shalbe desired the Lorde Mayor and all my bretheren the Aldermen and theire wyves my deputie and his wife and all my neighboures and such other as my executor shall thinke good And of this my laste will and testamente I make and appoint my trustie and lovinge frendes Edward Holmeden grocer Thomas Tirrell grocer and Thomas Farrington vintner my full and sole executors chardginge them as they will answere before God to see my debtes and legacies paied justlye and trewlye And that my legacies be all (savinge the money by me bequeathed for the sermons) payed within one yere at the farthest after my decease And I desire my good freindes John Wanton William Ramsey Thomas Taylor and Frauncys Tirrell to be my overseers And I will and my minde is that after all my legaceys given by me in this my last will and testamente be paied and discharged and my funerall cxpcnces borne The residue of all my goodes (my debtes legaceys and funeralls discharged as aforcsayed) I give and bequeathe to Edward Ilolraeden grocer Thomas Tirrell grocer Thomas Farrington vintner John Wanton grocer Thomas Taylor grocer William Taylor his brother Giles Taylor grocer William Ramsey Fraunces Tirrell grocer and Richard Weyver to be equallye dcvyded amongest them parte and partc like In witnesse wherof to this my present testamente and last will I have setto my hande and scale the day and yere abovesaied By me THOMAS RAMSEY alderman. Sealed and delivered in the presence of us whose names hereafter followc per me Willm Dalbye Richard Fordc servaunte to Syr Thomas Ramsey knighte
Item I give and bequeath to my servaunte Mary Forster twenty poundcs Item I will to foure skore poore men gownes a peece every man and twelve pence in money every man at my buriall Item I give and bequeathe to Mary Holmeden my cozen's daughter one hundred poundes and I give and bequeath to Susan Holmeden her sister one hundred poundes To Edward Holmeden and George Holmeden to either of them one hundred poundes And I give to Henry Dale a blacke gowne And to Mr. Mathewe Dale a blacke gowne And to Robert Coxe grocer a blacke gowne And to Nicholas Barnesley a blacke gowne And to William Bagnall a blacke gowne Item I give unto Elizabeth Tirrell daughter of Thomas Tyrrell over and above her legacey aforesayed fiftie poundes To my welbeloved freind Elizabeth Holmden one hundred poundcs And whereas the right honorable Robert Earle of Leicester is indebted unto me in the somme of fyvc hundred fiftie poundes payable in Januarye one thousand fyvc hundred
318 On an Inventory of the Household Goods
fourscore and seaven In defaulte of which paymente I shalbe interessed in the twoe and thirtethe parte of the mannor or Baronye of Denbighe I do therefore devise will and bequeathe the same in manner and forme folowinge videlicet that yf the saied money be paied and redely vered at the daye wherein the same is due or before then I will the one halfe therof to my saied lovingc wife and the other halfe thereof to be devyded amongest the saied Edward Holmeden Thomas Tirrell Thomas Farrington Thomas Taylor William Taylor Gyles Taylor William Ramseye Frauncis Tyrrell and Richard Weyver to be equallye devyded amongest them But yf the same be not payed accordinglye but that in defaulte therof there doth discende or come unto me and my heires and assignes a twoc and thirtithe parte of the saied Barronye or Mannor of Denbighe Then I will and devise the same twoe and thirtithe part therof to the saied Edwarde Holmeden Thomas Tirrell Thomas Farrington Thomas Taylor Gyles Taylor William Ramsey Fraunceys Tyrrell and Richard Weyver and theire severall heires videlicet to every of them and theire severall heyres an eighte parte therof By me Thomas Ramsey alderman Sealed and delivered in the presence of R. Wrighte notarye publique and of me Richard Forde Witness I William Horner grocer.
[Proved the 29th day of May 1590 by the proctor for the executors in the will above nominated.
On the 27th day of June the last will of the said deceased was propounded as follows:*]
ULTIMA VOLUNTAS DOMINI THOME RAMSEY MILITIS.
In the name of God Amen the nynthe daye of July in the yere of oure Lordc God a thousand fyve hundred cightic sixe and in the eighte and twentithe yere of the rayne of our soveraigne Ladie Elizabeth by the grace of God Queue of Englande Fraunce and Ireland defender of the faith &c I Sir Thomas Ramsey Knighte Citizen and Alderman of London beyng of good and perfect remembrance thankes be to Almightie God therfor do make my laste will concernynge the disposicion of all my manners landes tenementes and hereditamentes whatsoever scituat lyinge and bcynge within the eitty of London the counties of Surrey and Kente and els where within the rcalme of England in manner and forme followinge viz. First my will and meaninge ys and I do by these presentes will devise and bequeathe and allso reserve unto my executors named in my will of my moveable goodes 1'rcc ingresse and regresse into my mansion house wherein I nowe dwell scituate in Lumbert streate London and into all the roomcs of the same to be used and taken from ye time of my decease for and duringe the space of one whole yeare then next followinge at all tymc and tymes whatsoever at theire discretion to searche viewe and peruse all my writinges deedes cvydences bookcs of accompte and all other mynimentes whatsoever and to exequutc and peribrme any other matter or thinge for the execucion and performauncc whereof they shall or may have cause to rcsorte into the saied mansion house or into any the roome or roomes therof and in that tyme to carry out or bringc in suche thingcs as they shalbe occasioned or thincke good for the execution of this my presente tcstamente and last will or other my last will and testament of my moveable goodes and chattells with like libertie of ingresse and regress to suche theire servauntes or other persons whose travell they shalbe occasyoned to use in the premisses together with all suche cartes carriage portage and all other helpes and circumstaunces thereunto belonginge lor and duringe ye space of one whole yere And allso I will and devise unto Dame Mary my welbeloved * These paragraphs are in Latin, at some length, with the customary verbiage.
of Sir Thomas Ramsey. 319
wife my saied mansion house with th' appurtcnaunces with the garden therunto belonginge together with the twoe tenementes and shoppes therunto adjoyninge and allso my stable with the appurtenaunces All which ar scituate lyinge and beynge in Lumbertstreat London aforesaid in y* parishe of Saincte Mary Woolnothe in the warde of Langborne London and allso all those my three tenementes in Cornehill in the parishe of Saincte Michaclls in Cornehill London aforesaied which saied three tenementes now ar or late were in the severall tenures or occupacions of John Okes upholster Lawrence Yeomans cooke and Kobert Stephens grocer To have and to houlde all and singuler the premises with the appurtenaunces unto my saied wife duringe her naturall life for and in full recompence and satisfaction of her dower and third parte of all my manners landes tene- mentes and hereditamentes whatsoever And uppon condition that she shall and do accepte of the same as a full recompence and satisfaction of her. saied dower accordinglie And I chardge my saied wife that she shall kepe all the premises to her devised for tearme of her saied life in good necessarye and convenyente reparacions duringe the saied tyme And my will and meaninge ys that yf my saied wife shall accepte of the saied mansion house and other the premisses by this my saied will to her devised for her full thirde parte that she shall have the use of all suche cesterns of leade and other the leades as shalbe remayninge in my saied dwellinge house in Lumbert streate London at the tymc of my decease Item I will and devise that all and singuler the said mansion house and all and singuler the premisses before by theise presentes devised to the saied Dame Marye my wife after the decease of the sayed Dame Marye shall remayne and be to Thomas Taylor my sisters sonne his heires and assignes for ever To have and to houlde the same after the decease of my saied wife to hym the saied Thomas Taylor his heires and assignes for ever together witli all suchc cesternes of Leade and other Leades as shalbe remayninge in my saied mansion house in Lumbert streate at the time of my decease Item I will and devise my greate house with the appurtenaunces in the poultrey in the parishe of Saincte Mary woolchurche Hawe London in the occupacion of Edward Holmeden grocer and also my garden in Cowleman strete in Swanne alley London with the appurtenaunces unto my cozen Elizabeth Holmeden my sister's daughter duringe her naturall life willinge and chardginge the saied Elizabethe to kepe the same to her devised duringe all the saied tyme in good necessarye and convenient reparacions And after the decease of the saied Elizabethe I will that the saied greate house in the poultrey with the appurtenaunces and the saied garden with the appurtenaunces shalbe and remayne to William Taylor and Giles Taylor brothers to the saied Elizabeth and theire heires and assignes for ever Item I will and devise unto Thomas Tirrcll my godsonne sonne of Thomas Tyrrell citizen and grocer of London my tenementes and landes thereunto belonginge scituate lyinge and beinge in the parishe of Nudgate in the countie of Surrey in the tenure and occupation of one Nicholas llickman whiche I late purchased of Richard Culpepper gentleman and all other my landes and tenementes in the saied parishe of Nudgate to have and to houlde to the saied Thomas Tyrrell my godsonne his heires and assignes for ever And the residue of al! my manners landes tenementes and hereditamentes by me not devised amountinge to the full thirde parte of all the manners landes tenementes and hercditamcates whereof I am seised of any estate of enheritauncc I leave undevysed to descende by the course of the lawcs of this Eealme to or uppon my heire or heires at the common lawe And lastlye I will that yraediatlyc after my decease or within convenient tymc after my saied executors shall by the hclpe and direction of some learned advise searche and peruse all my evidences decdes myniinentcs
320 On an Inventory of the Household Goods
and wrytinges whatsoever and shall devide and deliver them to the devisees of th' enheritauncc or fee simple of the severall premises accordinge to th' intente of this my present will and devise viz. To every of the saied devisees or theire heires and to my saied heire or heires at the common lawe suche and so many of the saied deedes evydences mynimentes and wrytinges as shall severally concerne the landes or tenementes severally to them devised or which ar to discende accordinge to the course of the lawes or statutes of this realme and allso that this my present laste will and devise concerninge my saied manners landes and tenementes be by my saied executors caused to be enrolled in the courte of Hoystinges of London accordinge to «the custome of the same cittie within fower monethes next after my decease In witnesse whereof I have to this my present laste will and devise of my saied manners landes and tenementes and hereditamentes set my hande and scale the day and yere first above written By me Thomas Ramsey alderman Sealed and delyvered by Sr Thomas Ramsey as his laste will for the devise of his landes in ye presence of us whose names ar subscribed Thomas Graye the elder grocer William Home grocer Nicholas Barnesley grocer Richard Forde servaunte to Syr Thomas Ramsey alderman Richard wrighte Notary publique. [Proved as before.]
Sir Thomas was buried, according to his wish, in his parish church. It was burnt in the Great Fire, then restored, and his tomb reinstated; but it was destroyed with other old monuments in 1716, when the present church was built by Hawksmoor.
The tomb of Sir Thomas is mentioned in Strype's edition of Stowe as " a very good monument in the east end of the chancel," with the following epitaph : —
" Here lyeth interred the body of SIR THOMAS RAMSEY, Knt. a most worthy Citizen, and lately Lord Maior of London, being free of the Grocers' Company. "With whom (by Will) he hath lefte a perpetual reliefe for poore yong men, retaylours of the said Company, which he saw performed in his lifetime. He was a most careful Magistrate, walked in the feare of God, and loved peace. He lived 79 yoares, and dyed (without issue) in the faith of Jesus Christ, the 19. day of May, Anno Dom. 1590. Whose godly end was a true testimony of his vertuous life.
" Here lyeth buried also DAME ALICE, the first wife of the said Sir Thomas Ramsey, she being eldest daughter to Bevis Lea, of Enfield, in the county of Stafford, Gent. Unto whom he was married 37 yeeres ; and having lived 85 yeeres, she departed this life the 18 day of January, Anno Dom. 1577.
"Dame Mary, the second wife to the said -Sir Thomas Ramsey, was oldest daughter to William Dale, of Bristol, Merchant, unto whom he was married 12 yeeres. In regard therefore of so worthy a knight, and his two vertuous Ladeis, this Monument is heere placed by the Executors of the said Sir Thomas Ramsey, the 18 day of November, Anno Dom. 1596."
of Sir Thomas Ramsey. 321
Dame Mary was equally remarkable with her husband for charity and benevo- lence. Strype records " the Christian and bountiful charity of the Lady Ramsey, who being seized of lands in fee simple of her own inheritance, amounting to the yearly value of £243, by consent of her said husband gave the same to Christ's Hospital in London, towards the relief of the poor children there, and other charitable uses, as shall be declared.
" To the Master and Usher of the school belonging to Christ's Church, she gave yearly £20.
" To the Schoolmaster of Hawsted, by the year for ever, she gave £20.
" To ten poor widows, beside apparel and houses, yearly £20.
" To two poor people (a man and a woman) by her appointed, during their lives, she gave unto each of them, yearly £2 13*. 4d.
" To two Fellows of Peterhouse, in the University of Cambridge, and towards the relief of four scholars, yearly £40.
" To St. Bartholomew's Hospital, £10.
" To Newgate, Ludgate, and both the Comptors, each of them £10.
" After the expiration of certain leases, there is to come unto Christ's Hospital, yearly, the sum of £120.
" To three several parishes in London, namely, St. Andrew Undershaft, St. Peter's the Poor, and St. Mary Wolnoth, in Lombard Street, £10 to each.
" Towards the maintenance of six poor scholars in Cambridge, £20.
" Towards the relief of ten poor maimed soldiers, beside cassocks, caps, hose, and shoes, yearly, the sum of £20.
" For two sermons, yearly, 40«.
" She gave to the poor of Christ's Church parish, yearly, for ever, the sum of 50s.
" To the poor of the Company of Drapers in London, she gave £10 yearly.
" All these gifts already rehearsed are to continue for ever, yearly.
" Moreover to each of these five Companies : of Grocers, Drapers, Goldsmiths, Haberdashers, and Merchant Taylors, she gave the sum of £1,200, to be lent to young tradesmen for four years.
" She gave to the Maior and Commonalty of Bristol £1,000, to be employed toward the new hospital there, and other charitable uses, by the consent of her executors.
" To certain parishes in the country, as Berden, Newport, Clavering, Langley, Rickling, Quenden, Stocking Pelham, and Walden, she gave the sum of £100, to buy forty gowns of frize for women, and sixty coats for men, the remainder and overplus to go to the poor.
VOL. XL. 2 T
322 On an Inventory of the Household Goods
" She gave to poor maids' marriages £40.
" Moreover she gave the sum of £500 towards the releasing of such prisoners as lye for the debt of 40s. in any of the prisons in London and Southwark.
" She gave beside the sum of £3,000 to other good and godly uses."
There were formerly two tablets detailing her gifts to Christ Church more fully, and thus inscribed : —
" Behold the works of God, done by his servant Dame Mary Ramsey.
" She hath given a yearly maintenance for two Fellows and four Scholars in Cambridge.
" More, two livings of good value, when they shall become fit to supply them.
" More, towards certain sermons to be preached in this church, yearly.
" More, in Christ's Hospital, a free writing-school for poor men's children.
" More, in the country, a free grammar-school for the poorer sort.
" All which several gifts, before remembered, are to continue yearly for ever.
Forma, Decus, Mores, Sapientia, Res, et Honores, Morte ruunt subita; Vivit post funera Fama.
" The rest of the godly works done by this good lady.
" She hath given a worthy maintenance to the poor of Christ's Hospital.
" More, a bountiful gift for the healing of poor wounded soldiers.
" More, a liberal maintenance for ten poor maimed soldiers.
" More, a liberal maintenance for ten poor aged widows.
" More, a bountiful gift to release poor men out of prison.
" More, a bountiful gift to relieve poor men in prison.
" More, a yearly stipend to poor maids' marriages.
" More, to the relief of the poor of four several parishes.
" All which several gifts are for ever.
" Her faith hath wrought, her tree was not barren. And yet an unprofitable servant. 1596."
Such is all I have been able to glean concerning these worthy citizens. Their lives of industry, their pursuit of wealth, have left no traces behind. Through their charities have they solely been remembered, as if to point more forcibly the moral of the poet's lines : —
" —— only the actions of the just Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust."
of Sir Thomas Ramsey. 323
A TREWE INVENTORYE of all the moveable goodes, househould stuffe and plate, wch were latelie the goodes and chattells of Sr THOMAS RAMSEY, Knight, late Alderman of the Citie of London ; as the same was viewed and appraised by Thomas Corbet, skynner ; John Alderson, vintener ; Pattricke Brewe, gouldesmithe ; and John Okes, clothworker ; praysers sworne and appoynted the xviith daie of June 1590, as hereafter followeth : —
In the newe Parlour. li. s. d.
Imprimis : a chaire of greene velvett at . . • xij vj
Itm. two chaires of greene kersey, fringed . . . xj
Itm. two olde chaire stooles, of crimson velvett . . vj viij
Itm. two stooles of needleworke ... • nij Itm. one drawing joyned table (1) wth a frame and xviij joyned stooles . xxxiij iiij Itm. a long pillowe of tissewe and a windowe cloth of chaungeable silke
damaske ....... x
Itm. an olde cupboard cloth of greene and red ... ij
Itm. iiij litle footestooles . . . xviij
Itm. one Turkye carpett of v yards longe .... xxvj viij
Itm. ix olde greene cushions ..... ij
Itm. viij knobbes of tynne for the cupboard . ij
Itm. a cupboard and a desk of wainskett .... iij iiij
Itm. a long forme covered wth greene serge .... iij iiij
Itm. iiij olde greene stooles at . v
Itm. an iron to keepe in the fire (2) .... xviij
Summa t. v xix
In the Garden Chamber.
Itm. a greate longe wainskete presse .... xxxiij iiij
Itm. a longe tapestrie carpett . . . . . vij
Itm. two grene carpets of greene cloth, frenged . . . iiij x
Itm. vij skreene clothes and windowe clothes of grene clothe, garded w"1
grene velvet, and fringed ..... xxxv
Itm. a cupboarde clothe of redd dornixe . ij
Itm. a longe pillowe and iiij cushions of grene velvet . . xl
Itm. iiij needleworke cushions of the grocers armes . . . Iiij iiij
Ittn. viij needleworke cushions of the honysuckle . . . Iiij iiij
Itm. iiij olde needleworke cushions .... xiij iiij
Itm. an olde longe pillowe of tissewe .... xv
Itm. xij greene kersey cushions ....
Itm. a chaire of greene velvett ..... xvj
Itm. iiij lyned coverletts of tapestrie . . . .vij
Itm. one coarse coverlett, unlyned ..... xij
2 T 2
324
On an Inventory of Household Goods
Itm. one redde rugge, a black mantell, and a white blanket!
Itm. one peece of coarse kersey, a remnaunt of frise, and a remnaunt of black
cotton .......
Itm. two downe pillowes covered wth white fustian
Itm. v. curtaines of redde and yellowe taffetay, and the vallencc of the same,
fringed w"' redde and yellowe ....
Itm. a tester of Bridges satten ..... Itm. the velvet for a bedds hed, and vallence to the same of greene velvett,
fringed, and lyned w"1 buckram ....
Itm. a curtaine, sky blewe and yellow ....
Itm. a paire of brasen andirons w'h brasen feete
Itm. a shovell, a slice, a paire of croppers, and two payre of iron tounges
Itm. v wainskote tressells .....
Itm. a paire of olde playing tables .....
Itm. ix olde pictures ......
Itm. a paire of bellowes and an old tent frame
Itm. a wainskete chest, ij blewe tilletes (3), viijd. and vij wainsket boords
Itm. two fine tapestrie coverlets, unlyned, at .
Itm. iij peeces of old wainsket, ij wainsket pillars, and a wainsket forme
Summa t.
li.
s.
X XV
viij
iiij
iij
viij
In t/ie Chamber betwene the Great Chamber and the Garden Chamber.
Itm. a longe olde Turkic carpett . Itm. a greate wainskote cheste . Itm. a plate baskett, and a wainskote forme
Summa t.
In t/ie Gallerie.
Itm. iij longe tables
Itm. two square carving boorde tables
Itm. three stooles
Summa t.
XXV
xvj
X
viij v
XJ
XV
ix
x
xvj
v
iiij
xxv
xix
XX1J
viij
In the Chamber over the neice Parloure.
Imprimis: a carved bedsted and a trundell (4) bedde, and two waiusket settles .......
Itm. a strawe bedde, a fether bedde, and a boulster
XXVJ X
VIIJ
of Sir Thomas Ramsey. 325
li. s. d.
Itm. a court cupborde (5) ..... xvj
Itm. a leade pott for the privie, and an iron curtaine rodd . . xvj
Summa t, . iiij xix iiij
In the Ilall.
Itm. a longe greene carpett ..... xx
Itm. two long tables w"1 the frames .... xxxiij iiij
Itm. viij joyned stooles and two wainskete formes . . . xxj
Itm. xij plaine holberds ...... xx
Itm. two lanses, horsemens staves, and iiij light horsemans staves . . viij
Itm. vij shildes of armes ..... iij vj
Itm. a beame and an aungell gilt, and v candlestickes of brasse, and a
cristall glasse ...... xxv
Itm. an iron harth w'h an iron frame .... xx
Itm. two foote stooles ...... iiij
Summa t. . vij xj ij
In the olde Parlour.
I tin. a longe drawing table, and a frame of wainskote ... xx
Itm. iiij wainskote formes . . . . . ix
Itm. vj stooles . ... . . . vj
Itm. a great iron back for the chimnye .... viij
Summa t. . xliij
In the Chamber next to the Ilall.
Itm. two small fether beddes and a boulster .... iiij
Itm. a blanket, and three small grene say curtaines ... xij
Itm. a mattres, a fether bedd, and a boulster .... Iiij iiij
Itm. two blancketts, an olde tapestrie coverlet, and an olde pillowe . xxxv
Itm. a settle, and a chaire of wainskote .... v
Itm. a cheste of walnut tree ..... xl
Itm. a wainskote settle ...... ij
Itm. a shovell, and a payrc of tonges, and a slice of iron . . xvj
Itm. a paire of bellowes ...... xvj
Itm. iij windowe say curtaines, and the curtaine roddes ... xij
Itm. two greene cushions ..... xij
Itm. two olde greene stooles ..... ij
Itm. a small looking glasse, and a lead pott for the privie . . xxij
Summa t. . xij vj x
320
On an Inventory of the Household Goods
In the Closet next to Hie same Cliamber.
Itm. a settle of wainskote .....
Itm. a wainskote cheste ......
Itm. a greate oken wainskote cheste ....
Itm. a hanger, and one knife .....
Itm. a combe boxe ......
Itm. a trundell bedsted and a boulster ....
Itm. a blancket, and an olde coverlett ....
Itm. an olde browne bill, iij iron curtaine roddes, a white brushe, and a litle olde cheste ......
Sutnma t.
li.
s.
V
XJ
V
VJ
VIIJ
ii
viij
xxxvij
In Wilson's Chamber.
Itm. a bedsted, and a strawe bed, and a trundell bedsted
Itm. an olde wainskot presse .....
Itm. a standing joyncd bedsted, a strawe bedd, a fether bedd, and two boulsters ......
Itm. a payrc of blanketts, and an olde coverlett
Itm. two olde chayres ......
Itm. an old table, and a paire of tressells, and a cheste olde
Itm. a joyned stoole .....
v
V
XXX11J
i'j U
"
xij
Itm. v boulsters and a pillowe
Itm an olde boarded bedsted
In the Presse there.
In the Garret there.
Summa t.
In the Garret next to the streete.
Itm. an olde table, two tressells, and an olde presse
Itm. two wicker hampers and a little racke
Itm. a skreene w'1' a frame and a suffering fatt (6)
Itm. an olde settle and some olde wainskote, and a hayer lyne (7)
Itm. three tressells .....
Summa t.
vnj
viij
V1J
of Sir Thomas Ramsay. 327
In the Chamber next to the Garrett. li. s. d.
Itm. an olde standing bedsted wth a settle unto it (8), and two iron curtaine
rodds ....... T
Itm. a strawe bedd, two fether bedds, and a boulster . . v
Itm. a payre of olde andirons ..... xviij
Summa t. . v vj viij
In the Matted Chamber.
Imprimis, a standing bedsted, wth iij wainskote settles and iij iron rodds . xiij iiij
Itm. a strawe bedd, a fether bedd and a boulster . . .iij
Itm. two olde coverletts, one lyned and one unlyned, and a blanket . iij iiij
Itm. one olde carpett of tapestrie ..... v
Summa t. . iiij j viij
In the Brushing Chamber.
Itm. vj curtaine rodds, a pott of lead for the privie, a spynninge wheele, a
deske and a tressell . v
Itm. a brushing table and two tressells .... xvj
Itm. a waynskote presse ..... xxv
Itm. one longe dowble cheste ..... xiij iiij
Itm. a little chest and a buck baskett .... ij ij
Itm. a great wainskete chest ..... xiij iiij
Itm. a turned chayer ...... vj
Summa t. . iij viij
Apparell in the presse in the Srutihiny Chamber.
Itm. a skarlet gowne fased wth black velvet . . . vj xiij iiij
Itm. a scarlet cloke lyned throughout w"' chaungeable taffatye . . xlvj viij
Itm. a scarlet cloke faced w"' gray, w"' the tillet . . . xlvj viij
Itm. one scarlet gowne furred, and fased w"1 martens . . . x
Itm. two violet gownes fased w"' martens, furred; the better gowne at viij li.
and the old gowne at 46s. 8d. x vj viij
Itm. a violet gowne fased w"' satten .... xl
Itm. two black gownes fased w"1 martin powtes the newe gowne at 7 li.
the worser at 3 li. . . . . . x
Itm. a night gowne of kersey, laste wth billament (9) lase, and fased w"1
martens ....... Ij
Itm. three black gownes fased w"1 velvet, the worser at 20s. the second at
iij li. and the best gowne at vj li. . . . xl
On an Inventory of the Household Goods
li.
Itm. three black velvet coats, viz. the worst 6s. 8d. the second i li. and the
best iij li. x s. .
Itm. a blacke clothe coate .....
Itm. a black clothe cloke fased w"1 velvet .... Itm. two newe dubletts, one of fustian and the other of buffin (10) w"1 satten
sleeves .......
Itm. an olde dublet of purple satten ....
Itm. iiij olde dublets w"1 satten sieves ....
Itm. two paire of kersey hose .....
Itm. a felt hatt, fased w"1 velvet, w"1 a fustian bagge
Itm. one newe tawny cloke .....
Itm. two brushes and a rubber .....
Itm. an old furred gowne .....
Itm. a violet cloke, furred wlh gray ....
Itm. an olde scarlet gowne, furred, fased wth martens 4 li. 10 s. a paire
black velvet sleeves 6s. 8d. .....
Summa t.
In the Painted Chamber.
Imprimis: a standing bcdsted, gilt ....
Itm. a flock bedcle, a fether bedd, a boulster, and a paire of blanketts Itm. a coverlett, vnlyned .....
Itm. the vallence, and v curtaines for a bedd of yellowe and redde olde
taftataye ......
Itm. a settle of wainskote .....
Itm. a trundell bed of wainskote, a fether bedd and a boulster, and an olde
boulster, and an olde coverlet under the bedd Itm. a paire of blanketts, and an olde coverlet Itm. two downe pillowes of fustian ....
Itm. a wainskot settle w"' two locks ....
Itm. a court cupboard ......
Itm. an old danske (11) clieste .
Itm. a joyned stoole, and a foulding table ....
Itm. iiij curtaines, and a greene say curtaine
In the Garret above the Painted Chamber. Itm. iiij tresselles and iiij olde bourdes ....
Summa t.
Isxv
"J
s.
xvj xiij
XX
XX
VJ VJ
V XXX
ij
X
XXXV
iiij xvj
VJ "'J
xiiij xx
XXXV
viij
X V
d. viij
vnj
VIIJ
U
VIIJ
'"J
VIIJ
»J
VJ
xvj
jqj o
of Sir Thomas Ramsey. 329
. In the Buttry. li. s. d.
Itm. an olde bredd bynne . . . . . . xvj
Itm. a rackc to dry plate, and a square plate baskett . . . viij
Itm. iiij joyned stooles . . . . . ij vj
Itm. two cases wth 16 knives ..... iiij
In the Larder.
Itm. a great chest, and two flasketts .... v vj
Itm. a joyned stoole, and other lumber, as potts and footestooles . xij
In the Entrye.
Itm. an oister table, and a forme, and a stoole ... iij iiij
Summa t. . xviij rtj
In Richard Ford's Chamber.
Itm. an olde bcdsted, a strawe bedd, a mattres, a fetherbedd, a boulster, two
blancketts, an olde rugge, and an old cheste . . . xxxv
In the next Chamber.
Itm. a joyned bedstedd, a strawe bedd, a mattres, a flock bedd, two olde boulsters, a pillowe, and two olde blancketts, and a coverlet, and two old chests ....... xvj viij
Summa t. . li viij
In the Compting House in the Yard.
Itm. a drawing comptor of oke ..... vi viij
Itm. a counter beame wth basons ..... vi viij
Itm. a pay re of gold ballance ..... xij
Itm. x statute bookes ...... xviij
Itm. an olde small chest ...... iiij
Itm. two small scales, and a rack of wood .... xij
Itm. a great fyrre cheste ..... vi viij
Itm. iij saddles ...... xl
Itm. two lether bridles ...... v
Itm. the lether trappinge for the furniture of two horses . . xij
Itm. two velvet bridles, w"' the two furnitures of blacke velvett trappinge,
studded, for Sr Thomas his wearinge . . . .iij
Itm. two footeclothes garded wth black velvet . . . xxx
Itm. two payre of spurre ..... viij
Itm. 14 olde boxes ...... ij vj
VOL. XL. 2 U
330 On an Inventory of the Homehold Goods
11. s. d.
Itm. 12 black staves . . . . . . . viij
Itm. an olde cupbord ...... vj
Itm. an oldc wagon ...... ij vj
Itm. a bedsted with old lumber ..... x
Itm. brick ....... xij
Summa i. . viij xvij viij
Candlesticks.
Itm. 20 pewter candlesticks ..... xx
Itm. vj great brasse bell candlesticks . xx
Itm. vj other myddle brasse candlesticks .... iiij
Itm. iiij brode brasse candlesticks ..... iiij
Itm. 10 other small brasse candlesticks .... iij iiij
Itm. two drawing (12) brasse candlesticks .... ij
Summa t. . Iiij iiij
In Pewter, of divers sorts, weying asfolloweth, viz. : —
Itm. pewter, weying one wth the other, in the wholle, two thousand two hundrethe and one pownd at v d. the pownd, one wth the other, amounts but in money to . . . . . xlv xvij
Summa t. . xlv xvij
In Brasse, Copper, and Latten, as hereafter follow ethe : —
Itm. iij great brasse potts, iiij lesser brasse potts, ij brasse water chafers, two chafers or skillett of brasse, and a litle brasse morter, weying in the wholl mcxxx1' at v d. p. Ib. . . . . vj iij iiij
In Brasse and Latten, vis. : —
Itm. a ewre panne of latten, a brasse panne, a latten collcnder, iij latten panns, one perfuming panne of latten, two great brasse panns, a skommer and a ladle of brasse, and a small brasse kittle, weying, one wth the other, cxxxv Ib. at v d. per Ib. one wth another .... Ivj iij
Itm. a copper kittle poiz' xxx Ib. at 8d. per pownde • . . xx
Itm. iij brasen chaffing dishes wth two feete . xij
Itm. a warminge panne . Jj
Summa t. . x xiij vij
of Sir Thomas Ramsey. 331
In the Armory e Howse.
li. a. d.
Itm. a pistoll and a dagge ..... iij
Itm. iij dimilaunces, ij of them at 40s. a pece, and j at 10s. som' . • . iiij x
Itm. xv corselets, vij at 20s. a pece, and viij at 10s. a peece . . xj
Itm. iij Alman rivetts (13) at iij a iiij d per pece ... x
Itm. xvij Spanishe morrians at 2s. 6d. per pece (14) . . . xlij vj
Itm. x combe morrians(15) at 16d. .... xiij iiij
Itm. vj muskets wth flasks and rests . . . .iiij
Itm. viij Englishe calivers (16) and 20 flasks and towch boxes . . x
Itm. 12 Flemishe calivers and 13 flasks and towch boxes . . xxiiij
Itm. two newe holberds ...... v
Itm. 6 bowes and iij shefFs of arrowes .... vj viij
Itm. iij white skulls (17) . . . . . xviij
Itm. xix swords and rapiers ..... xlvij vj
Itm. xvj daggers and girdles ..... xxij viij
Itm. iij bandilyeres (18) ...... iij
Itm. iiij gorgets and ij gussetts of maile (19) . ... ij viij
Itm. v spades and shovells and two pickaxes .... vj viij
Itm. a buckler and two male pillions (20) .... x
Itm. iij olde formes ...... ij vj
Itm. 19 pikes, one wth another ..... xxviij vj
Itm. two light-horsemens staves, iij olde formes and a table wth a frame, an
olde holberd, and a ladder ..... vij x
Itm. girdles and hangers, a souldyers coate, certaine matche, bow strings,
shooting gloves, and brasers (21) .... vj viij
Summa t. . xxxiij iiij x
In the Candle Roome.
Itm. a candle cheste wlh certaine candles in it, certaine tubbs and cheests, w*
other olde lumber . .... x
In the Great Warehouse.
Itm. a greate beamc and skales ..... xl
Itm. a wainsket bedsted ...... x
Itm. two pullies ...... vj viij
Itm. two olde stooles ...... xij
Summa t. . iij vj viij
2u2
332 On an Inventory of the Household Goods
In the Lower Kitchen. li. s. d.
Itm. two sesternes of leade ..... xl
Itm. a skowring troughe . . . . viij
Itm. a flaskett and other olde tubbs and lumber, and a coope . . ij
Summa t. . xlij viij
In the Well Yard.
Itm. a sesterne of leade ...... xxx
Itm. a small leaden troughe ..... xviij
In the Back Yard.
Itm. iij sesternes of leade . . . . . v
Itm. vj tubbs and two deskes of olde wainskotc, a blocke, wth olde lumber
and paving stone in the yard ..... vj viij
Itm. billets, by estimacion x thowsand, at x s. . . v
Summa t. . xj xviij ij
In the Stable.
Itm. a ladder and a pitchforke ..... ij
Itm. a white geldinge . • . . . . iij vj viij
Itm. small coles ...... xx
In the Stable Chamber.
Itm. iij saddles, and iij olde bridles, an olde bedsted, iiij old stirrupps, and
certaine hoopes, and a snaffle ..... iij iiij
Itm. an olde saddle and bridle, and other lumber . . . xviij
Summa t. . iiij xiij vj
In the Garden.
Itm. 34 oken boards, at . . . . . . xxx
Itm. 4 plancks, at ...... vj
Itm. billets by estimacion ix thowsand, at . . . iiij x
Itm. a greate deale of old lumber ..... x
Itm. an olde ladder, xviij d. iij olde spades, xij d. . . . ij vj
Itm. a little ladder ...... iiij
Itm. iij pewter stills ...... xx
Suinma t. . vij xviij x
In the Spice Howse.
Itm. an iron beame and skales ..... x
Itm. leaden waights xxxiij c. di. at viij s. . . . xiij viij
Itm. two brasse morters wayinge clxiiij Ib. net, at 4d. ob' . . iij i vj
of Sir Thomas Ramsey. 333
11. s. d.
Itm. two olde presses . . "~» ' : * . » . xxxv
Itm. au olde counter . . ..• . . .. . ' iij iiij
Itm. two small palre of ballance, at .... ij vj
Itm. two boxes, iij barrells, and a cake of p'masitie (22) ... xx
Itra, iij spice treyes, xvj d. ; and iij links vj d. . . . xxij
Itm. two coats of plate ...... x
Itm. two piles of brasen waights, poize xxxj Ib. at iiij d. ob. . . xij
Itm. more coarse sparmacetye, poize xxx Ib. at ... xij iiij
Itm. browne paper and white in the cupboard ... iij
Itm. leade, poize iij 1. qr. ij Ib. at 7 s. . . . . vj vj
Itm. wainsket and lumber ..... ij
Itm. for gonne powder, x.q. xliij Ib. iiij ounces, at viij d. p. Ib. . . xxx vj
Summa t. . xxiij xix vj
, In the Fishe Howse.
Itm. ij barrells of bay salt ..... vij
Itm. one barrell of white sault ..... iij
Itm. xiij cople of linge ...... x
Itm. tables and other lumber ..... ij
In the BouU'mg Howse. Itm. an olde chest, a washing block, and other lumber ... ij vj
In the Howse in the Middle Yard.
Itm. tubbs and other things there ..... ij
Itm. halfe a firken of sope, and other lumber there ... x
In the Celler. Itm. greate coales ...... v
In the Bere Cellar. Itm. scantling for bearc (23) .... vj viij
In the Vawt Larder.
Itm. two brine tubbs, a flasket, and other lumber . . . iiij
Itm. by estimacion billets 8 thowsand at x s. . . . . iiij
In the Wine Cellar.
Itm. a tierse of wyne, pryce ..... l.ss
Itm. vij cheses at vij s. ; litle runlets and other lumber xij d. . . viij
In the Garden Woodteller. Itm. one thowsand of billets ..... x
Summa t. . viij ij
334 On an Inventory of the Household Goods
li. s. d. In the Lodge.
Itm. a lantorne of glasse, w"1 an iron frame, and a shovell . v ij
In the Yard.
Itm. xlj lether buckets, one wth another at . . . iij
Itm. a blocke of woode there ..... xviij
In the Lodge next to the Gate. Itm. an olde settle, certaine bricks, and a forme ... ij vj
In the Upper Kitchen.
Itm. a cesterne of leade ...... liij iiij
Itm. v treyes of woode, and a paire of bellowes ... ij yj
Itm. iij stone morters, a choppinge boorde, and others ... iij iiij
In the Upper Compting-house.
Itm. a presse of wainskote ..... viij
Itm. a square table wth a frame ..... vj
Itm. a great plate cheste ..... xv
Itm. a testament, a stoole, and vj boxes .... iiij
Summa t. . viij iiij viij
In Iron Worke, as followethe. Itm. in spitts, racks, trevetts, barrs of iron, and other such necessaries for the
kitchen, wcying in the whollc iiij c. xlj Ib. at j d. ob. per pownd . Iv
Itm. iiij dripping panns of iron, and two frying panns, weying Ixxvj Ib. one
wth another, at ij d. ob. per Ib. .... xv x
Itm. v chopping knives, ij fire shovells, and a peele . . . v
Itm. iij olde iron and iiij plate dripping panns ... ij vj
Summa t. . iij xviij iiij
Taken owt of the Wainskot Cheste.
Itm. a guilt Scots dagger wth two knives .... v
Itm. iij yards £ of satten at xj s. per yard .... xxxviij vj
Itm. halfe a yarde of course satten . . . . iiij
Itm. one yarde and halfe of buffine .... xv
Itm. a booke of the abridgment of statuts .... ij vj
Itm. a paire of knives graven and guilt .... x
Summa t. . iij xx
of Sir Thomas Ramsey. 335
June tie 19 daie, 1590. The waight and prices of all the Plate, asfollmceth, viz. Gilte Plate.
Imprimis : one nestc of gilt bowles (24) wth a cover, poize Ixxxxviij ounces at li. s. d.
v s ij d per ounce, amounts unto .... xxv x ij Itm. one nest of gilt bowles wth a cover, poize Ixxviij oz. di. and halfe a quarter
at v s ij d per oz. amounts . . . . xx vj ij
Itm. one nest gilt bowles wth a cover, poize Ixxx oz. at v s ij d. . . xx xiiij vij Itm. one nest of gilt bowles wth St. Martin, poiz Ix oz. iij qtr. at v s ij d per
ounce, amounts unto . . . . xv xiij x
Itm. one nest of gilt gobletts wth a cover, poiz. Ixv oz. iij qrs. at v s ij d . xvj xix viij
Itm. ix gilt potts wth covers, poiz clix oz. di. at v s ii d . . . xli iij j
Itm. xij ale potts, all gilt, poiz clxxx oz. at v s iiij d per oz. . . xlviij
Itm. two great lyverie potts w01 covers, cvj oz. di. at v s j d . . xxvij j iiij
Itm. two gilt crewetts wth covers, poiz xxvij oz. qr. at v s iiij d .vij xiiij v
Itm. two great gilt saults wth j cover (25) Ixxxix oz. iij at v s vj d . . xxvij viij vij
Itm. two gilt saults, wth j cover, poiz Ixv oz. qr. at v s iiij d . . xvij viij
Itm. one gilt standing cupp, wth j cover, poiz Iiij oz. iij at v s iiij d . xiiij i iiij Itm. two gilt pownsed saults wth j cover, poiz. liiij oz. di at vsiiijd per
ounce, amounts unto ..... xiv x viij Itm. a gilt standing cupp wth a cover, poiz xiiij oz. di. qr. at vj s iiij d per ounce,
amounts unto . . . . . . xj x
Itm. two litle gilt bowles wthout cover, poiz xiiij oz. di. at v s vj d per ounce,
amounts unto . . . . . .iij xix ix
Itm. one nest of gilt bowles wthout a cover, poiz Ixiij oz. di at vj s ij d per
ounce, amounts ...... xvj viij
Itm. one nest of gilt bowles w"'out cover, poize xlvij oz. di at v s ij d per ounce xlj v v Itm. one nest of gilt bowles wthout cover, poize xlv oz. iij q' at v s j d per ounce,
amounts . . . . . . . xj xvj iiij
Itm. one nest of gilt goblets wth j cover, poiz Ixxij oz. at v s j d per ounce,
amounts unto ...... xviij vj
Itm. one nest of gilt goblets wthj cover poiz Iv oz. di at vsj d . . xiiij ij
Itm. two gilt saultes wth one cover, poiz lix oz. at v s ij d. . . xv iiij x
Itm. a gilt sault w"'out a cover, poiz xxvj oz. at v s ij d . . . vj xiiij iiij Itm. a gilt standinge cuppe wth a cover, poiz xxvij oz. qr. at v s ij d per ounce,
amounts unto . . . . . vij o x
Itm. a gilt nutt wth a cover, poize xxiiij oz. di at v s ij d . . vj iiij vj
Itm. xij gilt potts, wthout covers, clxxxj oz. at v s iiij d . . xlvij v iiij Itm. iij gilt ale potts wth dolphin eares, wtu a cover, poize xxxiij oz. qr. at v s
j d per ounce, amounts unto ..... viij ix Itm. a broken trencher sault, and a cover of a trencher sault, poiz v ounces
quarter at iiij s x d . . . . . . xxv iiij
On an Inventory of the Household Goods
li. s. d.
Itm. v gilt spoones, poize x oz. iij and di. at v s ij d . .
Itm. a small trencher sault, poiz ij oz. at vs per ounce, amounts . Itm. a gilt pece of the olde towche (26) poiz xxiiij oz. iij qr. at v s j d Itm. iij dossen of gilt spoones, poiz Ixxxx oz. iij qr. at v s ij d Itm. two square gilt saults, wth one cover poiz xxix oz. at vs vj d per ounce, amounts unto .....
Summa t.
Parcell gilt plate, weying asfolloweth, viz. :
Itm. vj hanse potts (27), parccll gilt, poiz Ixxxv oz. at iiij s ix d .
Itm. iij dossen of postle spoones parcell gilt, poiz Ixvj oz. iij qr. and half
quarter at iiij s xj d per ounce Itm. a bason and a ewer, parcell gilt w"1 the grocers' armes, poiz cvij oz. at v s
per ounce amounts unto ....
Itm. one bason and ewer wth Sr Thomas Ramsey's armes, poiz ciij oz. qr. at v s
per ounce, amounts ....
Itm. one bason and ewer w11' Sr Thomas Ramsey's armes, poize cj oz. qr. at
v s per ounce, amounts unto .... Itm. iij dossen of plate trenchers, poiz cclxx oz. qr. at iiij s xj d per ounce
amounts unto .....
Itm. two dozen of olde plat trenchers parcell gilt poiz clxxix oz. iij dwts. at
iij s xj d per ounce, amounts unto
Itm. two litle white bowles, poiz xj oz. iij dwt. at iiij s x d Itm. one basin and ewer, parcell gilt, wth a cover, poize Ixxxoz. at iiij s viij d
per ounce amounts unto ....
Itm. one great nest of parcell gilt goblets, poiz cxliiij oz. w"1 one cover, at iiij s
viij d per ounce amots ....
Itm. one nest of gobletts parccll gilt, w"1 one cover, Ixxxxix oz. one quarter,
at iiij s ix d per oz. amounts to ...
Itm. one nest of goblets parcell gilt, w"1 a cover, poiz Ixviij oz. iij dwts. at iiij s
ix d per ounce, amounts to Itm. one nest of parcell gilt gobletts, wth a cover, poize Ix oz. i dwt. at iiij s
viij d per ounce ...
Itm. viij parcell gilt potts, w"' covers, poize cxiiij oz. iiij s ix d Itm. iij hanse potts, parcell gilt, poize xlix oz. di at iiij s viij d Itm. two lesser hanse potts, parccll gilt, wth covers, xxix oz. at iiij s viij d per
ounce, amounts to
Itm. one lyverie pott, wth a cover, poiz 1 oz. iij dwts. at 4s. 8d. Itm. one nest of gobletts, parcell gilt, poiz Ixiiij oz. at iiij s viij d, .
|
VJ . xxiij 2f viJ |
Ivi x V viij xix |
ix X XJ |
|
. vC.xix |
iiij |
V |
|
XX If |
VJ |
j |
|
. xviij s |
xvij |
xj |
|
• xxvj s |
XV |
|
|
XXV .t |
xvj |
iij |
|
XXV |
vj |
iij |
|
. Ixvj t |
viij |
viij |
|
ib • xliij xlvj 1 |
viij ix |
ix |
|
• xviij g |
xiij |
iiij |
|
. xxxiij |
xii |
|
|
. xxiij g |
xj |
v |
|
xvj - |
vj |
vj |
|
j |
ij |
|
|
. xxvij |
iij |
x |
|
XJ r |
xj |
|
|
VJ |
XV |
iiij |
|
xj |
xvj |
x |
xv
of Sir Thomas Ramsey. 337
li. s. d. Itm. one round sault wth the biasing starre; poiz xviij ounces, quarter, and
the halfe quarter at iiij s x d. . . . . . iiij viij ix"J
Itm. one parcell gilt sault wthout a cover, poiz xvj oz. iij qtrs. at iij s viij d
per ounce, amounts . . . . . iiij ij x
Itm. two dossen and fower postle spoones, parcell gilt poiz, lix ounces at iiij s
xj d per ounce, amounts unto ..... xiiij x j
Itm. xviij olde spoones parcell gilt, poiz xxvij oz. at iiij s ix d per ounce,
amounts unto . . . . . vj ix v
Itm. one bason and one ewer parcell gilt wth a cover, wth the grocers armes,
poiz, cvj oz. at v s. . . . . . xxvj xvj iiij
Itm. one white pownsed bowle wthout cover, poize ix oz. halfe and halfe
quarter, at iiij s viij d per oz. . . . . . xliiij xj
Itm. one little white pott, wth one eare, poize iij oz. and the halfe, at iiij s viij d
per ounce, amounts ...... xx v
Summa t. . Clxix xiiij
Golde chaines, rings, and Jewells, as followetk, viz. —
Itm. one greate chaine of golde, poiz xxxix oz. iij dwts. and halfe an aungell
weight, at Ivj s per ounce, amounts unto . . . Cx xiiij iiij
Itm. a girdell of golde, poiz xxviij oz. at Ivij s vj d per oz. . . Ixxxj iiij vj
Itm. a booke of golde (28), poiz iij oz. at xlviij s per ounce . . vij iiij
Itm. vij golde rings weyingc ij oz. di. and di. qr. at xlviij s per oz. . vj vj
Itm. j golde ring of Sr Thomas Ramsey's armes, poiz one ounce, at . Ij
Itm. j paire of silver spectacles, poiz iiij oz. at iiij s vj d. . . xviij
Summa t. . ijCviij xv xj
Lynnen praised the 26 daie of June 1590.
Itm. xv damaske table clothes conteyninge Ixxxvj yardes at v s per yarde,
amounteth unto one wlh another .... xxiiij
Itm. xv damaske towclls conteyning Ixxxxv yardes at ij s vj d . . xij
Itm. xxvj dossen of damaske napkins conteyninge, every dossen, xiiij yards
and a halfe, at 20d. per yarde, amounts unto . . . xxx j viij
Itm. xij coverpanes of damaske w1'1 knobbs, at iiij s a pece, one w"1 another,
amo' ....... xlviij
Itm. a short table cloth of damask, wrought wth flowers, conteyning iiij yards
and a halfe at ii s iiij d per yard .... xiiij vj
Damaske. Itm. xvj damaske ewrie towells conteyning xlvj yards or thereabouts, at
20d. per yard, amounts unto . . . . .iij vxj viij
VOL. XL. 2 X
On an Inventory of the Household Goods
li. s. d. Itm. vj brode damaske cupboard clothes and skreene clothes, conteyning one
yard and a halfe of damaske a piece, at ij s vj d per yard . . xxij vj Itm. two damaske windowe clothes, conteyning bothe two yardes and a halfe
of the whole bredthe, at iij a iiij d. . . . viij iiij
Itm. vj skrene clothes, conteyning x yards and a halfe at 20 d per yarde . xvj vj Itm. v damaske windowe clothes of napkin bredthe conteyning vij yards iij
qrs. at xx d per yard, amounts .... xiiij vij
Diaper, vi:. :
Itm. one fine diaper table cloth conteyning vj yardes at v s per yarde . xxx
Itm. one fine diaper towell co. vj yards at ij s vj d . . . xv
Itm. ij dossen of fine diaper napkins co. xiij yards at xx d . . xlij viij Itm. xiiij diaper table clothes co. 6 yardes a pece, Ixxxiiij yards, at iiij 8 vj d
one with another, amounts unto .... xviij xviij
Itm. vj diaper long towells, conteyning vj yardes a peece, xxxvj yards at ij s
iij d, one wth another . . . . .iiij j Itm. xv dossen and iij diaper napkins at xviij s per dossen . . xiij xvj
Itm. iiij narrowe diaper towells co. 22 yards at 18 d per yard xxxiij Itm. xv diaper ewrie towells conteyninge xlij yards, or thearabouts, at xij
per yarde, amounts unto ..... xlij
Itm. iiij carving boord clothes of diaper at xvj d a peecc . v iiij
Itm. ij diaper skreene clothes, one at xij d, the other at vj d . xviij
Itm. one diaper carving boord clothe, of diaper . . ij vj
Itm. one olcle diaper table clothe, conteyning 5 yard. qtr. at . . ij vj
Itm. iiij diaper cowchers (29) conteyning 24 yards at 10 d per yard . xx
Itm. one coarse diaper towell, conteyning v yards, at 12 d per yard . v
Itm. v dossen coarse olde diaper napkins at iiij s per dozen, one wtu thother . xx
Plaine Lynnen, viz. :
Itm. one plaine table clothe co. 4 ells quarter at ij s viij d per ell . . xij iiij
Itm. one plaine table clothe co. v ells, at ij s per ell . x
Itm. one plaine table clothe conteyninge iiij ells, quarter, at xvj d per ell . v viij
Itm. one plaine table clothe cont' iiij ells iij quarters, at xviij d per ell vij j
Itm. one plaine table clothe cont' iiij ells iij quarters^ at xvj d . . vj iiij
Itm. one plaine table clothe conteyninge iiij ells iij quarters, at xviij d per ell vij j
Itm. one plaine table clothe conteyning iiij ells iij quarters, at xvj d per ell . vj iiij
Itm. one plaine table cloth, scant v ells, at 16 d per ell, amounts . . vj viij
Itm. one plaine table clothe of iij ells iij quarters, at xx d per ell . vj iij
Itm. one plaine table clothe of iiij ells iij quarters, at xij d per ell . iiij ix
Itm. one plaine table clothe of iij ells iij quarters, at xvj d per ell . . v
of Sir Thomas Ramsey. 339
li. s. d.
Itm. one plaine table clothe of iiij ells, scant, at 19 d per ell tef,:' ->V, iiij viy
Itm. one plaine table clothe of iij ells iij quarters, at xvid per ell . •'•„-..-• v
Itm. one plaine table clothe of iiij ells qtr. at xviij d per ell . • . •• vj ix
Itm. one plaine table clothe of v ells, at xvj d per ell . . . vj viij
Itm. one plaine table clothe of v ells, at xx d per ell . . viij iiij
Itm. one plaine table clothe of 4 ells and a halfe, at xx d per ell . . vij vj
Itm. one plaine table clothe of iiij ells and halfe, at ii s per ell . ix
Plaine Towells and Ewry Towells, fyc.
Imprimis, one holland towell of iij ells quarter, at xviij d per ell . . vj
Itm. one towell conteyning iiij ells quarter, at xviij d per ell . . vj iiij
Itm. one towell of iiij ells quarter, at 18 d per ell . . . vij iiij Itm. xij ewer towells of 27 ells viz, two ells, quarter, the pcce of halfe holland
bredthe, at ix d per ell . . . . . xxj
Itm. two ewer towells, wrought the white worke, at iij s vj d per pece . vij
Itm. iij coverpanes, wrought w'h black worke, at vj s vij d per pece . xx
Itm. one cupbord clothe, wrought wtk white worke . . . xiij iiij
Itm. one plaine cupbord clothe conteyning one ell qtr. and a halfe, at xxij d . iij iiij Itm. two cupbord clothes, wrought wth black worke, one at iij s, the other at
ij s, amounts to ...... v
Itm. two long skrene clothes ..... iiij
Itm. two lesser skrene clothes . . ij vj
Itm. iij small dore clothes ...... xij
Itm. two neck towells conteyning iiij ells and halfe, at viij d iij
Itm. 10 jack towells at vj d per pece, one w"1 the other . . v
Itm. vj carving boord clothes at xij d per pece . . vj
Itm. ij dossen and nyne plaine napkins, one wth another . v
Lynnen used about the hoivse,
Itm. one diaper table clothe conteyning v yards iij quarters, at iiij s per yarde xxiij
Itm. one diaper towell conteyning v yards and halfe, at ij s per yard . xj
Itm. xij diaper napkins at .... XTJ
Itm. iij dossen of olde diaper napkins, one wth another at . . iij
Itm. one olde diaper table clothe and a corse towull of diaper . ij yj
Plaine holland.
Itm. one plaine table clothe co. v elles, at xviij d per ell . . vij vj
Itm. one plaine table clothe co. v ells, at xvj d per ell . . . vj viij
Itm. one plaine table clothe co. iiij ells iij quarters, at . . . . v
2x2
340 On an Inventory of the Household Goods
li. s. d.
Itm. one olde plaine table clothe at .... ij vj
Itm. two long towells, viij ells and a halfe, at yj d per ell . . iiij iij
Itm. v olde table clothes ..... xij
Itm. iiij olde tome cupbord clothes .... iiij
Itm. iiij olde jack towells ..... iiij
Itm. ix ewry towells at . . . . . . ij
Itm. one buttery dore clothe ..... ij
Itm. iiij old table clothes ..... vj
Itm. xxij newe napkins ...... x
Itm. vij dosscn of plaine napkins, one wth another at ij s vj d per dossen . xvij vj
Lynnen taken out of the Chest in the Garden Chamber.
Itm. iiij payre of newe canves sheets at vij s vj d, one wth another, amounts
unto ....... xxx
Itm. xij payrc of olde corse sheetes at ij s payre, one wth other . . xxiiij
Itm. one fine holland sheete ..... vij
Itm. ix payre of fine sheetes at vj s vij d per paire . . iij
Itm. v payre of olde sheets at iiij s per paire . . xx
Itm. v sheets at iiij s per paire ... . x
Itm. two diaper towells, conteyning vij yards, halfe, at x d . . vj iij
Itm. iij holland towells, conteyning ix ells, at 12 d, one wth another ix
Itm. one ewry towell of callico wlh blacke worke . . viij
Itm. two drinking clothes wrought wth black worke xij
Itm. two mylded (30) napkins . • vj
Itm. one pcce of olde canves . . • ij
Itm. iiij paire of sheets at vj s viij d per payre xxvj viij
Itm. one payre of old sheets .... ij vj
Itm. x corse hand towells at 3 d . . • ij vj
Itm. ix old sheets, payre . • iij
Som't'. . Clj xvj vj
Memorand' these parcells of goodes hereafter named were valued by the praisers above named, and yet are to be allowed unto Dame Marie for her chamber, viz. —
Itm. a bedsted vallence of velvet, curteines to the same of crimson taffetie, a fetherbedd, boulster, and two pillowcs, two blanckets, two paire of sheetes, two pillowbers, a quilt of crimesen satten, and vij peeces of tapestrie hangings, valued, as by everie particular male appere, at the bomme of ...... xxxviij viij
of Sir Thomas Ramsey. 341
li. s. d.
Memorand' these parcells hereafter following are to remaine unto the said Dame Marie, wch she doth challenge as her owne, the propertie not being altered as she was Executrix unto Mr. Thomas Averie, esquire, deceased.
Itm. two corselets, two dymilaunces, armor for a man of armes wth his mace, certaine ymbrowdered pillowes, and certaine other ymplements of hous- hold stuffe, as by everie particuler may appeare, valued by the praisers abovenamed and doth ain° unto the some t' xxxij xv vj
NOTES,
1. [one drawing joyned table] a table made with a leaf to draw out and increase its size when needed ; "joyned tables" and "joyned stools" indicated superior articles of furniture in contradistinction to common carpentry. The London civic companies of joiners and carpenters were distinct, and very jealous of each other's privileges, which were most minutely regulated. A curious account of their disputes, and the solemn trifling over trade-distinctions which occupied City magnates at this time, may be seen in Jupp's "Account of the Worshipful Company of Carpenters," by which it appears the carpenters might only make such rough furniture as might hold in sockets or by nailing " without glue ;" the joiners having the monopoly of making " all tables of wainscote, walnutt, or other stuffe, glued, with frames, mortesses, or tennants, or any other articles of furniture that require to be dovetailed, pinned, or glued."
2. [an iron to keepe in the fire] a lump of metal similar to the heater of an italian-iron, which was placed among the coals to economize heat.
3. [tilletes] coarse wrappers, "tyllet to wrap cloth in." Palsgrave, 1530.
4. [trundle ledde~\ a bed that fitted beneath another, and was pulled forward, or " trundled," on wheels. It was used for servants, or attendants on the sick. There is a very curious representation of one in an illumination to the romance of the Comte d'Artois (15th cent.) published by M. Barrois, of Paris, in which the Count is represented in the canopied bed, while his valet occupies the truckle or trundle. It has been copied in HalliwelPs folio Shakespeare, vol. 2, p. 437.
5. [a court cupborde] a buffet for the display of plate. It may have obtained its name from originally denoting the rank of its owner. On its summit was a series of receding shelves, upon which the plate was arranged. Persons of royal blood, only, were allowed the use of five shelves ; those with four were appro- priated to nobles of the highest rank ; those with three to nobles under the rank of dukes ; those with two to knight-bannerets ; and those of one step to persons of gentle descent.
6. [a suffering fatt] a vat used for salting meat, having a vent at bottom to drain off the brine when necessary.
7. [a hayer line] lines or ropes to dry clothes upon were usually made, at this time, of horsehair. This gives point to Stephano's jest in Shakespeare's Tempest, Act 4. Among the representations of itinerant traders forming a series of " Cries of London," temp. Jas. I. in the British Museum, is one crying, " buy a hair-line."
342 On an Inventory of Sir Thomas Ramsey.
8. [an old standing bedstead with a settle] This item is very correctly described ; such bedsteads were peculiar to the two preceding centuries. The settle was attached to the foot of the bed, and used for undressing. In the romance of Meliadus, (Brit. Mus. addit. MS. 12,228, fol. 312,) is a very correct repre- sentation of one. (14th cent.)
9. [billament lose] ordinary ornamental lace. See Proceedings, 2nd S. III. 108.
10. [btiffin] a coarse common cloth, much used for the gowns of humbler citizens, as appears from allusions in the comedy of "Eastward Hoe," 1605, and Massinger's " City Madam."
11. [danske] Danish.
12. [drawing candlesticks] candlesticks made to draw upward in a socket as the candles burnt down.
13. [Alman rivets'] i.e. German rivets. A great improvement on the old fixed rivet, in use till the time of Henry VIII. They were formed like a double button, connected by a metal band, which passed through a slot in each piece of armour, holding both firmly, but allowing freedom of motion.
14. [Spanish morrians] light metal head-pieces, with a rim only round the head, having neither visor nor cheek-pieces.
15. [combe woman.*] morions with a raised ridge in the crown like the comb of a cock.
16. [calivers] A light kind of musket. It was invented in France, and derived the name from the barrel being always of one calibre. See Meyrick and Hewitt.
17. [skulls'] close-fitting metal head-pieces for foot-soldiers.
18. [bandilyeres] small wooden cases, each containing a charge of powder, hung to a leather baldrick, and slung across the shoulder of a soldier.
19. [gussets ofmaile] small pieces of chain-armour worn at the junction of plate armour.
20. [male pillions'] large saddles for travelling, having a seat behind for a lady, and being provided with leather bags for light luggage.
21. [brasei-a] coverings of leather for the left arm of the bowman, reaching from wrist to elbow, to prevent injury by percussion of the bowstring.
22. [p'masitie] spermaceti.
23. [fcantling for beare] wooden frames for beer barrels to stand on.
24. [nette ofguilte bou-le?] small drinking cups made to fit into each other.
25. These salts probably fitted one over the other so as to require only one cover.
26. [the olde towche] the touch was the assay formerly made by the Goldsmiths' Company, of the purity of gold by testing it with the touchstone. Hence the term was applied to the stamps placed by them on gold or silver articles that had been submitted to their assay.
27. [hanse pott."] pots of Flemish manufacture.
28. [a booke of golde] probably, judging from its small value, this was a small pouncet box shaped like a book.
29. [diaper coivchers] diaper coverings for couches ?
30. [mylde'l] mildewed.
XXII. — Description of a Pocket-Dial made in 1593 for Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. Ey JOHN BRUCE, Esq. F.S.A. : in a Letter addressed to the possessor* of the Dial, EDWARD DALTON, Esq. LL.D. F.S.A.
Read May 4th, 1865.
5, Upper Gloucester Street, Dorset Square, N.W. 20th April, 1865.
MY DEAR SIR,
The curious article which you have entrusted to me for exhibition to the Society of Antiquaries has at least three claims to the attention of that body ; — 1st, as an authentic memorial of a celebrated person ; 2nd, as an excellent specimen of a curious description of mathematical and nautical instrument, long superseded in actual practice, but full of interest in the history of the sciences to which it relates ; and, 3rd, as a production of a skilful artist in this kind of work whose name has fallen out of remembrance.
The instrument in question consists of a circular case or box, 2% inches in diameter, and 1 inch in depth, made of brass, gilded, like ordinary watch-maker's work. It has two lids, wings or leaves, which fasten down, one on each side of the centre compartment. When closed, the whole has the appearance of a round box, covered within and without with letters and figures elaborately engraved.
Round the outer edge of the box we read the following motto or inscription, engraved in capital letters : —
HE • THAT • TO ' HIS ' NOBLE • LINKAGE ' ADDETH " VERTV " AND " GOOD ' CONDISIONS '
IS ' TO ' BE • PRAYSED "
and then, reversing the position of the box : —
THET ' THAT • BE * PERFECTLI • WISE • DESPISE • WORLDLI ' HONOR ' WHER ' RICHES ' ARE • HONORED ' GOOD • MEN • ARE ' DESPISED '
Replacing the box in that position in which the first of these inscriptions may be read with the letters upright, we find on the upper surface or lid what has been a Nocturnlabe, or Nocturnal, that is, an instrument by which time may be approximately discovered at night by the observation of certain stars.
• Since this paper was written Dr. Dalton has very liberally presented the Essex Dial as an addition to the national collection of similar instruments preserved in the British Museum. — J.B.
344 Description of a Pocket-Dial made
Nocturnals will be found described and delineated in Bees's Cyclopaedia, in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and more particularly in " The Art of Navigation, first written in the Spanish tongue by that excellent mariner and mathematician of these times, Martine Curtis [Cortes], and translated into English by Richard Eden," (Lond. 4to. 1561) ; in Blundevill's " New and Necessary Treatise of Navi- gation," (Lond. 4to. 1594) ; in Sir Jonas Moore's " New System of Mathematics," (Lond. 2 vols. 4to. 1681) ; in SeUer's " Practical Navigation," (Lond. 4to. 1694) ; and in many similar books.
From the descriptions given in these works it appears that there was considerable variety in the construction of these instruments, every one being framed with a view to the observation of the position of some particular star or stars in relation to the North or Pole Star. The stars ordinarily selected for observation were those termed the pointers or guards of the Little Bear, or the others which are similarly termed in relation to the Great Bear ; but many other stars would answer the purpose equally well. Subject to differences dependent upon the selected star or stars, or upon the taste of the maker of the instrument, the Nocturnal may be stated to have been composed of three concentric circular plates or roundles, placed on the top of one another and riveted together in the centre. The first or undermost and largest of these plates had the outer portion of its surface divided into twelve parts, to which were assigned the names of the several months, with an inner graduated circle divided by lines and figures according to the days in each month. At the point of the edge of this first plate, which was opposite to that part of the outer circle which indicated the month and day on which the star or stars to which the instrument had relation came to the meridian at midnight, there was fastened a handle, by which the instrument was held upright at the time of observation. In the instrument before us we find the months enumerated in due order on the outer circle of the first or undermost plate, and perceive that the handle has been fixed at about the 21st October, the point opposite to which, the 21st April, would consequently be the top of the instrument when it was held before the face at the time of observa- tion. The 21st April was the day on which the guards of the Little Bear came to the meridian at midnight ; we may therefore infer that this particular instru- ment was constructed with a view to the observation of those stars. The months are enumerated, on the outer circle, from right to left ; and it will be observed that " Maie " has only thirty days assigned to it.
The second plate of this Nocturnal is marked off into twenty-four equal divisions,
£^^
• GOOD- CO3TDIS1OXS • IS -To RK • PftAYS£f>
DIAL OF ROBERT DEVEREUX,EARL OF ESSEX
Kell Bro' Iith Castle S'Kolborn
Published by the Society of" Antiquaries, 18G8
for Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. 345
indicative of the hours of the natural day. They are numbered in two continuous series from one to twelve ; and, for the purpose of the instrument being used at night, the outer edge of this second plate is serrated or divided into points like those of a saw, one for each hour, the point indicative of one of the numbers, twelve, being distinguished by a much longer point than the others, so that by feeling and counting these points any particular hour might be ascertained even in the dark.
The third and uppermost part of this instrument consisted of a long pointer, ordinarily extending from the centre to (and in some cases considerably beyond) the outer edge. All the three pieces, viz. the two circles and the long pointer, were joined together by a rivet, which was pierced or perforated in the centre with a small hole, through which the person using the instrument was to direct his observation towards the Pole-star. At the time of observation, the instrument, having been first properly set, was held upright by its handle, and when the Pole-star was observed through the perforation in the centre of the rivet, the long pointer was to be moved round until its outer edge indicated the position of the particular stars in special relation to which the instrument was constructed. The time was then found by observing or feeling the particular hour over or nearest to which the long pointer stood.*
It is obvious that there were two portions of such an instrument which were particularly liable to meet with damage — the handle and the long projecting pointer. The instrument before us has been unfortunate in both these particulars. The place whence the handle has been broken oif remains clearly discernible, and the long pointer is also gone. The latter was no doubt ornamented and
1 The description of this operation in Curtis or Cortes's Art of Navigation is so quaint that it is worth quoting, although some of it has special reference to the form of his particular instrument : —
" When you desire to know the liowre, you shall turne the Index of the lesse rundell, in the which is written Time [this refers to his own plate'], to that part of the great rundell where is marked the day in which you desire to know the howre, and directing your face toward the north, you shal make the head toward the height of heaven at the 25 of April [that being the day on which the foremost guard is upon the meridian at 12 at night]. And, seeing in heaven by the hole in the middest the Starre of the Xorth, holding the instrument in such compasse of the face that by the circumference of the greater rundell may be seen the Guard-starre in heaven, you shall turn the home [the long pointer made in the shape of a horn with the mouth doionivards'] round about until it fall upon the guards, so that by the two holes of the mouth of the horn [this was a peculiarity in the particular instrument here described] the two Guard-starres may be seene, and by the hole in the middest the North-starrc, and all three with one eye; then the right line that goeth from the North to the first guard shall shew in the less rundell the howre that shal be." (pp. 105, IOC.) It is stated in Barlow's Navigator's Supply, that the well-known pilot and navigator Stephen Burrowes pro- cured Curtis's Art of Navigation to be translated into English. VOL. XL. 2 Y
346 Description of a Pocket-Dial made
ornamental, like every other part of the original work, but the instrument has been repaired by some unskilful workman, ignorant of its nature and uses. The results have been that, in place of the long pointer, we see a plain, short, ugly spike, and that the original perforated rivet has been succeeded by one which is unperforated and therefore useless. Erom the time of these alterations this Nocturnal has of course ceased to be of any practical utility. The observation of the pole star, which was the foundation of its astronomical or practical usefulness, was no longer possible.
Proceeding with our examination of the instrument, if we now turn it upside down we find on the side opposite to the Nocturnal another instrument, the name of which I have not been able to ascertain, nor perhaps to comprehend the many purposes to which it was applicable. It is clear that by the combina- tion of figures and letters upon its surface an. observer who knew the moon's position in the heavens might determine her age, or contrariwise if he knew her age might ascertain her position. The instrument might also be made serviceable in ascertaining the sun's decimation, altitude, and place in the ecliptic, and consequently in answering a great variety of geographical and astronomical problems. Whatever may have been its manifold uses, it is staisfactory to know that, like all the rest of the box which remains to be described, it is still in its original condition, uninjured by the repairer of the Nocturnal.
Like the Nocturnal, the instrument now under consideration consists of three circular plates placed one upon another, and all fastened together by a central rivet. On the first or undermost plate we find engraved in concentric circles : —
1. The names and emblems of the signs of the Zodiac, arranged from right to left, and placed round the instrument as follows : — Scorpio. Taurus.
Sagitarius. Gemini.
Capricornus. Canecer.
Aquarius. Leo.
Pisses. Virgo.
Aries. Libra.
2. A scale consisting of twelve divisions of 30 days each, one of the twelve
placed under each of the zodiacal signs, and marked off in a decimal division of 10, 20, 30.
3. The months of the year arranged as in the Nocturnal, the names being
occasionally spelt somewhat differently.
for Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. 347
4. A scale of the days of the months, 31 being in this instance assigned to
the month of May.
5. The points of the compass, arranged according to the course of the sun ;
N. being placed immediately under the 12th December, when the sun enters Capricorn ; and
6. The 24 hours of the day arranged in two series of 12 each, as in the
Nocturnal.
On the second plate there is engraved one circle, on which are marked off 29^ divisions, being the number of days in one complete lunation. Attached to this plate is a pointer which extends to the second circle of the first plate.
The third plate has also attached to it a pointer which reaches to the same circle, and by means of this last-mentioned pointer the third plate may be turned round over the second plate. As it is gradually turned round, at a particular part of its course it reveals, through a circular aperture, a full face engraved on the second plate, clearly indicating the point at which the third plate should be fixed in order to its being made use of to discover the place and time of the full moon. From a point immediately under this face there are drawn seven straight lines. The one in the centre is unmarked ; but the other six, which branch off, three on each side, from the full face or moon to the circumference of the plate, are marked by the astrological signs for trine, quartile, and sextile. This is the only indication of an astrological use that I have observed throughout the multitudinous inscriptions on this little instrument or combination of instruments.
On the same third plate we find inscribed the name of the maker, " James Kynuyn fecit, 1593." For a long time I was unable to trace any other men- tion of this name. Our excellent Director Mr. Franks opened to my inspection the very curious articles of this class which are preserved in the British Museum ; but no dial or other instrument by Kynwyn could be discovered amongst them. As the name smacks of Cornwall or of the Principality, I fully expected that our Vice-President Mr. Octavius Morgan, who possesses a large collection of such objects, and has made them a study, would have been able to satisfy my inquiries, but I found that neither the artist nor his work had fallen under the observation of either Mr. Morgan or Mr. Franks. The same result attended my inquiries at the Kensington Museum, at her Majesty's Library at Windsor Castle, at Greenwich Hospital, and at the Horological Institute. Wherever I went I found abundance of German work in articles of this kind, and at the British
2 Y2
348 Description of a Pocket-Dial made
Museum, and at Greenwich Hospital, extremely beautiful productions of Hum- phrey Cole," who, from the reign of Edward VI. to a late period in that of Eliza- beth, was the leading English maker of instruments of this class ; but I was unable to discover any trace of the name of Kynwyn, or any other example of his work. Turning my inquiries in another direction — from instruments to books — I was a little more successful.
After long search among books relating to navigation and the mathematics, I came upon a copy, in the British Museum, of Blagrave's Mathematical Jewel (fol. Lond. 1585), which formerly belonged to the well-known anti-Marprelatc controversialist and poet, Gabriel Harvey. This volume contains various margin- alia (as Coleridge used to term them) in Harvey's handwriting. High up on the title-page he has written his autograph in his bold clear hand — " Gabriel Haruey, 1585," and at the bottom of the page, under the engraved representation of Blagrave's Jewel, he has added this memorandum : —
" Mr. Kynvin selleth ye Instrument in brasse."
Further, about the middle of the same title-page, Harvey, five years afterwards, inserted the following additional memorandum : —
" His Familiar Staff b newly published this 1590. The instrument itself, made & solde by M. Kynuin, of London, neere Powles. A fine work- man & mie kinde frend : first commended vnto me bie M. Digges & M. Blagrave him- self. Meaner artificers much praised bic Cardan, Gauricus & other, then He & old
a Humphrey Cole has not met with such attention from our biographical writers as a man of so much taste and ingenuity deserved. It appears from a letter of his in the Lansdowne Collection (No. 26, art. 22) that, about 1558, he was appointed by Sir William Cecil to an office in the Mint: — " I was placed in the Tower," he says, " to serve the Queen in the Mint, to do the services pertaining to the mill, that when Eloy the Frenchman should be taken therefrom by death or otherwise I should enjoy the same." From the con- tents of this letter, which is dated 4th December, 1578, it seems probable that he never succeeded to the Frenchman's office. There are several notices of Cole among the State Papers. In 1565 he was one of a proposed body of Commissioners for working mines (Dom. Eliz. vol. xxxvii. No. 30), and in 1578, when Martin Frobisher brought home specimens of ore from America. Humphrey Cole was one of the persons appointed to test their value. (Sainsbury's Colonial Calendar, 1513 — 1C16, pp. 33, 34, 57.)
b That is, another instrument invented by Blagrave, and by him so called. It is an improvement upon the cross-staff, and is described by the inventor in a little volume entitled " Baculum Familiare," published in 1590, 4to.
for Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. 349
Humfrie Cole, mie mathematical mechani- cians. As M. Lucar newly commendes Jon. Reynolds, Jon. Read, Christopher Paine, Londoners, for making Geometrical Tables, with their feet, frames, rulers, compasses & squires. M. Blagrave also in his Fami- liar staff commendes Jon. Read, for a verie artificial workman." "
In Harvey's extremely communicative note we ohtain such information re- specting Kynwin and several others of these ingenious mechanics as will suffice to place their names in the list of benefactors to nautical and mathematical science. By the good taste of their artistic workmanship they not only made this branch of science attractive as a study and in some degree fashionable, but they led the way to improvements which, shortly after the date of this instrument, threw into the shade all their ingenious but somewhat cumbrous contrivances for arriving at simple results.
Proceeding with our description, and lifting up the lid,' the inscriptions 011 which have been the subject of our last remarks, we find on the back of it a calendar of all the fixed festivals of the Church of England, with the addition of the time when the sun entered into the several zodiacal signs, expressed in the customary astronomical symbols. The whole of this plate or roundle is divided into eight circles, of which the three outer are sub-divided into equal sections, each containing one-fourth of the whole. One of each of these twelve sections is devoted to every month of the year, and in them we read as follows : —
I. 1 Circum. 6 Epiphani. 11 Sun in Aquarius. 25 Con. paul.
F. 2 purifi. 9 Sun in Pisces. 14 Valentin. 2-1 Mathi.
M. 11 Sun in Aries. 2 Anunsiatio.
A. 11 sun in Taurus. 23 George. 25 Marck euangl.
M. 1 Philip and lacob. 12 sun in Gemini.
I. 11 bara. 12 sun in Cancer. 24 lo. bap. 29 pet. pa.
I. 6 dog be. 13 sun in Leo. 22 Mari mag. 25 lames ap.
A. 14 sun in Virgo. 17 dog ed. 21 barth. 29 Ion be.
11 Blagrave's words are : — " I shall easily bee heard of about maister Treasurer's lodging in the Court, or at Swallowfield by Reading, where I dwell. There dwelleth a verie artificial workeman in Hosier Lane, called Jon. Reade, who can further you, whose helpe I have used about one or two of these staues." (Bacu- lurn Famiiiare, p. 69.)
350 Description of a Pocket-Dial made
S. 14 sun in Libra. 21 Matew. 29 micaell. O. 14 sun in Scorpio. 18 Luck euan. 28 Simon and lud. N. 1 all saints. 13 sun in Sagittarius. 30 Andrew apo. D. 12 sun in Capricorn. 21 tho. 25 natiui. 26 Ste.
On the remaining five of the circles here engraved, we have tables for " Easter da," the Prime, the Epact, the " Dominic " letter for ordinary years, and finally the additional Dominical letter for leap years, with the following inscription : " This Tabell beginneth at 1593 and so for euer." This inscription must not be understood to mean that the calendar here given is a perpetual one. At the most it is one for 35 years only, that is, from 1593 to 1627. The Easter days given are (with some few mistakes) those which would occur within those 35 years ; now 35 is the exact number of the possible days on which Easter may fall, but Easter does not recur in the cycle which is here laid down, in fact there are many days on which Easter falls which are not here mentioned. Thus, in 1631, Easter day fell on April 10, in 1G34 on April 6, in 1G35 on March 29, in 1639 on April 14, none of which days are mentioned in this table, and so with many others. The Prime or Golden Xumber and the Epact run on in continually recur- ring cycles of 19 years in the order in which they are here laid down ; therefore, so far as they are concerned, this calendar may be termed perpetual, but not in respect of the Dominical letters, leap years, or Easter days ; and even with re- spect to the Prime and the Epact, although the cycles of their recurrence are properly laid clown, they are not at all rightly applied to the Easter days with which they are here brought into connection. They start correctly. The Calendar is quite right for 1593. But immediately afterwards all the parts fall out of relation to one another. This can be seen by any one at a glance. There are, as I have stated, 35 Easter days enumerated. There should be the same number of Primes, Epacts, and Dominical letters (counting the double letters of the leap years for this purpose as one), but there are Primes for only 19 years, Epacts for the same number, and Dominical letters for only 28 years. The Calendar is therefore really only complete for 1593. I mention these circum- stances because they seem to show that, wi'th considerable pretence to scientific accuracy, these instruments were in some respects little better than mere play- things.
The following list will exhibit the amount of inaccuracy in these tables even for the Easter days : —
for Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. 351
The fourth Easter Day is stated to be 11 m. which is an impossible day,
Easter never happening before the 22nd March. This should have been
11 only, omitting the M. The year was 1596, when Easter Day fell on
the llth April.
The eighteenth Easter Day is marked 1, for 1 A. This was in 1610, and
should have been 8 A. The twenty-second Easter is marked 17, which from its position means
17 A ; it was in 1614, and should have been 24 April. The twenty-fifth Easter is marked 13 A; it was 1617, and should have
been 20 April. The thirty-fourth Easter is marked 25, which means 25 A; it was 1627,
and should have been 25 March.
On the next plate, which lies opposite to the one containing the calendar, we have a tide-table giving the names of a number of places, principally on the coasts of England and on the opposite shores of the Narrow Seas, arranged under their nautical bearings in such manner as to show in what places at the new and full moons high water occurred at the same time.
Opening the box itself, we find on the lower side a mariner's compass, con- sisting of the magnetic needle suspended over the customary fly or circular card, on which are painted the 32 points. The needle, although a little rusty, still turns on its pivot, and its movements seem still true. The rim of the box in which the compass is contained is marked off with 360 divisions or degrees.
On the upper side of the box, opposite the compass, we find a list of the prin- cipal places in the world with their latitudes, jotted down apparently without arrangement, and of course with occasional inaccuracy. They run as follows : —
Constantinople, 43°. Florence, 45. 40.
Alexandria, 31. Napels, 40. 36.
Jerusalem, 36. 40. Orleance, 47.
Edenburge, 57. Viena, 48. 20.
Venice, 45. 18. Perusia, 42. 30.
London, 51. 33. Brasilia, 47. 41.
Briscils, 44. 5. Burgis, 42. 48.
Patavia, 44. 28. Antioch, 37. 20.
Burdensi, 45. 30. Corinth, 35. 55.
Norinbarg, 40. 24. Paris, 48. 30.
Cesaria, 31. 40. Lions, 45. 10.
352 Description of a Pocket-Dial made
Ments, 50. 8. Tours, 47. 30.
Braga, 43. Antwerp, 51. 28.
Granata, 37. Quinsey, 37. 40.
Daascus, 33. Cuba, 23£.
Lisbon, 39. 38. Malta, 34.
Athens, 37. 15. Compostella, 42. 15.
Niniui, 41. 40. Carthage, 38.
Babilou, 35. Heercules pillers, 36. 15.
Roome, 44. 40.
These latitudes are disposed in four circular lines, and in the centre, surmounted by a coronet and surrounded by the garter, with its customary motto, is the achievement of arms of Robert Devereux the 2nd Earl of Essex of that family, consisting of sixteen quarterings, with his motto engraved thus : — IN • VEDIA • VIR- TTJTIS • COMES • The coronet has more the appearance of that of a duke than of an earl, but in those days the forms of coronets had not attained their present certainty.
The arms themselves are quite unquestionable, although there are some varia- tions, or rather there is one variation, between them and the arms of this family found elsewhere. In the garter-plate of Walter Devereux the 1st Earl of Essex of that family, as I am informed by my friend Thomas William King, Esq. York Herald, the arms are arranged thus : —
1. Devereux. 2. Bourchier. 3. Woodstock. 4. Bohun.
5. Milo. 6. Mandeville. 7. Louvain. 8. Woodville.
9. Crophull. 10. Verdon. 11. Bigod. 12. Gules, a bend lozengy,
or, for Mareschal. 13. Ferrers. 14. Chester. 15. Quincey. 16. Bellamont.
In the arms of the same family, as given in the Lives of the Devereux Earls of Essex by Admiral Devereux, the 12th quarter is filled with six lions rampant, assigned by the Admiral to Mareschal, but really the arms of Strongbow, to which the Devereux family was entitled through Mareschal. In the engraving on the article now exhibited the same 12th quarter represents Quarterly, a lion passant, for Say. The Earls of Essex were entitled, as Mr. King informs me, to quarter all these several arms of Mareschal, Strongbow, and Say, and probably these and several other quarterings to which they were entitled were occasionally brought in according to the fancy of the bearer or the engraver. In reference to this part of our subject, Mr. King has kindly given me the following memorandum on the quarterings of Devereux and their proper arrangement : —
•for Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. 353
" ARRANGEMENT OF THE QUARTERINGS OF DEVEREUX.
" The Roman numerals over the names, in the following arrangement, indicate the order in which the quarterings should be placed.
" The Arabic numerals show the way in which the quarterings stand on the Dial exhibited by Dr. Dalton.
" The names over which there are no numbers refer to quarterings omitted, but which the Earl was entitled to bear."
II. » III. 10 IT. 11
Crophull. Verdon. Lacy. Bigod. Mareschal.a Strongbow.b
(vi. 14 Chester. * errors. /
I <II. 15 Tin. 10
, Quincey. FitsParnell.^^Bellamont.
i.i Devereux.-
ix. i Bourchier.-
i. r ii. 3
Lovaine. Woodstock.— Bohun.
ITI. 8
Widvile.
/ xm. 5
I Milo.
XII. t
X1T. 12 XT. 0
Fitzspiers. Say. Mandevillc.
We have thus endeavoured to describe this comprehensive instrument and some of its various uses. We have also traced it to its original owner, the ambitious and popular Earl of Essex. I cannot in any way connect it with his personal history. The year in which it bears date was one of the quietest in his life. He had served in Holland under Leicester, he had joined the Portugal expedition under Norris and Drake, he had commanded the forces sent into Normandy as auxiliary to Henry IV. and had returned home, at the age of 26, to plunge into those party politics which were his ruin. It was at this time that he became a suitor for the Attorney-Generalship to be conferred upon Bacon. The year 1596 was that of the Cadiz expedition, and, as this instrument bears evident tokens of having been used, it is not improbable that it was worn by the Earl in his pocket on that occasion.
Of its subsequent history I am not informed. A modern inscription, written on a piece of paper pasted within the cover, informs us that it " formerly belonged to the Prince of Waldeck," to which of them is not stated.
• Mareschal (bend lozengy) occurs on the garter-plate. It is brought in by Bigod. b Strongbow (six lions) occurs in Devereux 's " Lives and Letters." Strongbow is brought in by Mareschal. VOL. XL. 2 Z
354 Description of a Pocket-Dial made
The cover itself demands a passing notice. It is extremely well made, of stamped leather with gilt ornaments, contrived exactly to fit the article to be inclosed, and constructed with room for that handle of the Nocturnal which, as we have before suggested, has been broken off.
The consideration of instruments such as this tends greatly to heighten our admiration of the courage of those daring men who, with ships of insignificant size, and at a time when science could do so little for them, ventured on such arduous voyages as were accomplished by the early navigators. Their want of acquaintance with many of the helps which are open to the modern sailor is very striking. At Greenwich Hospital is a beautiful instrument of this class made by Humfrey Cole in 1509. Although differently arranged to the one now before us, it contains many things which are exactly of the same kind. It is said to have been used by Sir Francis Drake, which is not improbable. But how per- plexed Drake occasionally was, and dependent on the skill of the practical mariner, rather than on the knowledge derived from imperfect science, is curiously evidenced by a statement which I find in a very trustworthy book called the Navigator's Supply, 4to. Lond. 1597, written by a clergyman named William Barlow, a son of Bishop Barlow, the deprived Bishop of Bath and "Wells under Mary, and Bishop of Chichester under Elizabeth. Barlow, treating, in his Epistle Dedicatorie to the Earl of Essex, of the mistakes into which navigators had fallen from unacquaintance with the variations of the compass, writes as follows : —
" A memorable example hereof fell out anno 1586, when Sir Francis Drake, a gentleman of famous memorie, in his West Indian victorious voyage, departing from the harbour of Cartagena, arriued some small time after at the westermost point of Cuba, called Cape S. Antony, and, hauing stayed three some fewe dayes, put to sea for Virginia for the reliefe of our countreymen that were there in great danger and distresse. Having continued at the sea sixteene dayes tossed with variable windes, they came at last within sight of land, but by no means could they discerne, or give any probable ghesse, what land it should be. So it was, that one of Southhampton, being an expert and skilfull nauigator, (though of other conditions not so good but better might have been wished,) for his frowarduesse having receaved disgrace before, was notwithstanding vpon this necessitie called unto conference ; where, after Sir Francis had bestowed on him some part of his eloquent perswasions and faire promises, at length he vndertaketh to doe his best. And, hauing made^his obseruations according vnto arte, he pronounced in laugliing and disdainefull maner (because his advice was not taken in the setting of their
for Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. 355
course) that looke what land they had hin at sixteene dayes before, the very same precisely was the land that now they were at againe. Which assertion of his heing reiected as a thing impossible by all those of skill in the company, and especially by Sir Francis himselfe, not without reproachfull wordes, he still per- seuered therein, and assured them that vpon his life they should finde it so ; like as in the ende they did. This coulde he neuer haue done without his knowledge of the variation of the compass ; as the partie himselfe more then once with great earnestnesse hath protested unto me in conference that I have had with him concerning those matters."
I have said that these instruments were valuable in their own day as having had a tendency to make scientific studies fashionable. My meaning was, that articles like that now exhibited, like that attributed to Sir Francis Drake, and like many others in the British Museum and elsewhere, at once ornamental and costly, could have found their way only into the wealthiest ranks of society, and that they had thus a tendency to excite and diffuse a taste for such truths of science as these instruments could disclose among persons in the highest walks of life. As an evidence of this kind of influence, it may not be uninteresting to know that this was one among the many elegant tastes of Charles I. A book was expressly written to teach him geometry, and was ornamented by a rare portrait of himself as a youth. James I. employed Gunter (the inventor of several instruments of great use which have come down to our times) to set up a variety of dials in the royal garden at Whitehall. Prince Charles took a lively interest in the work, and for his own instruction procured Gunter to write an account of the uses of these dials, which was subsequently published, and is a very curious book. Throughout his reign Charles exhibited an inclination to patronise the cultivators of such ingenious arts, although his good intentions were probably not always exerted in behalf of the worthiest objects. Richard Delamain, a teacher of mathematics, who lived in " the upper part of Chancery Lane," and was an acquaintance of Attorney-General Noy, was one of these persons who stood high in the King's favour. Delamain put forth several mathematical instruments as his own inventions. Some of his contemporaries decried them as mere appro- priations of other men's labours, but the King was attracted by them, purchased his instruments, and granted him a pension. Among Delamain's inventions was one which he termed a Mathematical Ring " extracted from the logarithms." This was a dial or instrument by the movement of several parts of which various
2z2
356 Description of a Pocket-Dial made
arithmetical and mathematical questions could be answered.* This instrument took the King's fancy. He had one made in silver, and always carried it about with him. On the morning of the last scene of his sad history, when he came to divide among his children and attendants the few books and trinkets which re- mained to him, this Mathematical Ring was an article which he thought worthy to be his dying gift to his second son. Herbert records the incident thus : — " He likewise commanded Mr. Herbert to give his son the Duke of York his large ring sun-dial of silver, a jewel his Majesty much valued ; it was invented by Mr. Delamain, an able mathematician who projected it, and in a little book showed its excellent use in resolving many questions in arithmetic, and other rare opera- tions to be wrought by it in the mathematics." (Herbert's Memoirs, ed. 1711, p. 130.) Herbert was no doubt mistaken in terming the article a 0tm-dial, but from the similarity of the uses it cannot be doubted that Delamain's dial, which he called the Mathematical Ring, was the jewel here alluded to. It would afford an apt illustration of Herbert's touching Memoir if any gentleman could exhibit an example of Delamain's invention to the Society of Antiquaries.
In conclusion I beg to express my very sincere thanks to Mr. King and Mr. John Williams for valuable help on this occasion. Every one knows that these gentlemen arc at all times ready to give assistance to inquirers.
Believe me, my dear Sir,
Yours very sincerely,
JOHN BRUCE.
EDWARD DALTOX, Esq. LL.D. F.S.A.
Dunkirk Manor House, Nailsworth, Stroud.
" Delamain published a description of it, entitled " Grammelogia, or the Mathematical Ring, extracted from the Logarithms," 12mo. Lend. [1C32], and an account of another instrument invented by him, entitled " The making, description, and use of a small portable instrument for yc Pocket (or according to any mag- nitude) in forme of a mixt Trapezia, thus !, called a Horizontall Quadrant. Composed and produced
soly for the benefit and use of such which are studious of mathematicall Practice. Written and delivered by Delamain, student and Teacher of the Matheraatickes." 12mo. Lond. 1632. There are papers relating to Delamain in several volumes of the State Papers.
for Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. 357
Note on the Use of the Nocturnal. By JOHN WILLIAMS, Esq. F.S.A.
Read May llth, 1865.
I can add but little to the very interesting account given by Mr. Bruce of the curious little instrument formerly belonging to the Earl of Essex. As however he has called upon me to offer some explanations as to the mode of using certain parts of that instrument, I have brought together such information as I could collect as likely to be serviceable for that purpose.
The instrument consists of various parts, as described by Mr. Bruce. Some of these are devoted to chronological or geographical purposes, the latter being referred to the mariner's compass, which also forms a part of the article exhibited. The upper part presents us with an instrument formerly much employed by nautical men and others to ascertain the hour of the night by means of the positions of the stars called the guards of the Great or Little Bear, in reference to the pole-star. This instrument is called a Nocturnal. The earliest notice of an instrument of this kind I have hitherto been able to find is in the " Cosmographia" of Peter Apian, printed at Antwerp in 1564. The appendix to this work is entitled in the index, " De Horarum Noctis Observatione," and here we find the description of an instrument essentially the same as the Nocturnal, and also of another, to which I shall have occasion shortly to allude, as affording some explanation of the use of the combination on the opposite side of the Essex instrument. In the description above referred to, a figure is given of a man finding the hour of the night by means of the guards or pointers of the Great Bear. The instrument he employs, however, is simply the toothed or moveable circle of our nocturnal, the hour being indicated by means of an index, also moveable ; and a paragraph fol- lows, entitled " Usus hujus Instrument!," which is too obscure to be readily under- stood without an example, and none is given. I must however observe that the outer or fixed circle of the later instruments does not occur in this.
In Pale's " Art of Dialling," 4to. Lond. 1593, the year of the construction of the Essex instrument, we have a section, " How to make an instrument whereby you may know the just hour of the night by the starres." A tolerably clear de- scription of every part follows, first separately, and then as put together for use ; followed by a diagram. The instrument described by Fale has a handle that can
358 Description of a Pocket-Dial made
be shifted in order to adapt it either for the Great or Little Bear as occasion might require ; the moveable circle is also toothed. In both these instances no name is given to the instrument.
Sir Jonas Moore, in his " New System of Mathematics," 2 vols. 4to. 1681, figures and describes, under the name of " The Nocturnal," an instrument which may be considered as identical with a wooden one now exhibited, and, as his description is the most intelligible I have met with, .'[ shall quote his words in explanation of the use of this early, but now entirely disused, instrument. In vol. i. p. 253, we have " The Description and Use of the Nocturnal," as follows : ' There are many kinds of Nocturnals, some for one star, some for another, of which we shall take notice only of two, one made for the constellation of the Great Bear, and the other for the Little Bear ; and, they both consisting of like parts, one description shall serve both. This instrument is composed of three pieces or parts ; the first and biggest, on which is the handle by which to hold it in time of observation, hath on the fore side two circles, in the outermost of which are the days of the months, and upon the innermost the 24 hours of a day natural ; upon the back side are the 32 points of the compass ; and sometimes, especially if it be for the Little Bear, the distance of the Pole star above or beneath the pole.
" If the Nocturnal be for the pointers (or as some call them the guards) of the Great Bear, then you will see in the circle of months February 17 at the top, because the star that night comes to the meridian at midnight ; but if it be for the fore guard of the Little Bear you will see April 25 at the top, right under the middle of the tip, for the like reason.
" The second or middle piece or part contains two circles and a small tooth or index ; the outermost circle is divided into 29 J days, for the moon's age ; the innermost into 21 hours. The index is a little short peg, standing out from the edge, and is to be set to the day of the month as occasion requires.
" The third and upper or innermost part or piece is a long index, the edge of which that comes from the centre must be brought over the guards in observing. Sometimes one instrument is made to serve both Bears.
" To find the hour of the night and upon what point of the compass the guards are : First set the tooth of the middle part to the day of the month ; then lift up the instrument and hold it as upright as you can, with the fore-side towards you, and afterwards bow the upper end or tip on to the top of the nocturnal, so much towards you, that, looking through the hole in the middle of the nocturnal, you
for Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex. 359
may see the Pole-star. Now, when you see the Pole-star through the hole, turn the long index or ruler about, till, by the edge coming from the centre, you can see the first of the guards of the Little Bear, or to the pointers of the Great Bear ; if for the Great Bear, then shall the edge of that index or ruler show upon the innermost circle of the middle part or piece the hour of the night ; and at the same time on the back-side of the nocturnal the point of the compass on which the guards are."
In explanation there is a moveable diagram which renders this description per- fectly clear.
The wooden instrument now before you is clearly one of those referred to in the sentence, " Sometimes one instrument is made to serve both Bears ;" there being on the moveable circle two teeth or pegs, as Sir J. Moore calls them, the one marked G. for Great Bear, and the other L. for Little Bear. On the back are the bearings, with the distance of the Pole-star above or beneath the true pole for both Bears ; with these exceptions the instrument is precisely the same as that described by Moore. To use this instrument we must proceed in the fol- lowing manner. I wish to ascertain the hour by means of the pointers of the Great Bear. I bring the tooth marked G. to the day of the month on the outer graduated circle, Now, holding the instrument as nearly as possible in the meri- dian, and inclining it so as to be able to see the Pole-star through the hole in the centre, the index is to be moved until it intersects the pointers of the Great Bear, when it will also be found to cut with its inner edge the hour of the night on the moveable circle. It will also show the bearings of the guards and the distance of the Pole-star from the true pole at the hour in question. For the guard of the Little Bear the tooth marked L. is to be used in like manner. I may also observe that as April is on the top, this is nominally arranged for the guard of the Little Bear, but answers equally well for both.
The Nocturnal forming so conspicuous a part of the Essex instrument next requires our attention. Like the examples just referred to, it consists of a fixed plate, a moveable circle, and a brass rod serving as an index, which is also move- able. Applying the principles just laid down to it, it will be found that, as April occurs on the upper part of the fixed plate, this instrument is adapted to finding the hour by means of the guard or bright star of the Little Bear. The fixed plate is graduated in the usual manner, having the circle of months and the 24 hours of the day upon it. The moveable plate has two circles upon it, the one with the days of the moon (29£), the other showing the 24 hours of the day. This plate is
SCO Description of a Pocket-Dial.
also toothed ; and one of the teeth, that against the 12th hour, being longer than the others, is employed as an index for rectifying the instrument. The moveahle index is at present a short rod of brass. This, however, does not appear to have been the original index ; that doubtless having been much longer, reaching to nearly the edge of the outer circle on the fixed plate. The present rod barely touches the base of the teeth, and was possibly substituted for the original one when the instrument underwent some repairs, evidently by a workman who understood nothing of its use, as not only is the index too short, but the hole through which the Pole-star should be seen does not exist, having been stopped up by a rivet. This Nocturnal was used as before described, excepting that the index is merely pointed to the star instead of intersecting it. The teeth were employed to ascertain the hour, by means of the touch, when it was too dark to read the engraved figures. Thus the finger was passed from the long tooth — always 12 — counting the number of teeth between that and the index, which number gave the hour required.
In addition to the above there is a compass within, with the whole of the points marked. There are also three inner plates, or rather surfaces, which, as described by Mr. Bruce, consist of — one relating to the calendar ; another indicating the time of high water at a variety of places ; and a third having the Essex arms and the latitudes of some of the principal places in the world upon it.
Such is the use and application of the nocturnal ; but we have another curious piece of apparatus at the other end of the Essex instrument, which may require explanation. Here again we are indebted to Peter Apian, and to him alone, for some account of this instrument. In folio 49 he gives a moveable diagram of an instrument substantially the same as that before us, and describes it as intended to show the hour when the moon is shining. His instructions for using it are however so obscure, being without any examples, that I have been unable to apply it to its intended use. It does not occur in any of the later works to which I have had access, so that they have afforded no assistance in its elucidation. All that can be said is, that it is intended to show the hour of the night by means of the moon, but how applied to that purpose I have not ascertained.
XXIII. — On the Position of the Portus Lemanis of the Romans. By THOMAS
LEWIN, ESQ., M.A., F.S.A.
Read November 23rd, 1865.
THE Portus Lemanis must clearly have been one of the great thoroughfares between Britain and the Continent, and it is not a little singular that the position of a port once so famous should never have been satisfactorily settled. The common impression is that it lay at the foot of Lymne Hill. For the benefit of those who are not familiar with this neighbourhood, I should mention, in limine, that the village of Lymne or Lympuc stands about 2£ miles to the west of Hythe, on the highest part of the cliff which girds in the eastern portion of Romney Marsh. On the declivity of the hill, about half-way down, is seen the old Roman castrum, called Stuttfall, occupying 10 or 12 acres. There are walls on the north, east, and west, and the east and west walls run down to the marsh itself ; but, what is remarkable, the south side towards the marsh had never any wall," and hence the erroneous notion so generally prevalent that at the foot of the castrum was once the Portus Lemanis, and that in the course of ages the sea retired from Lymne, when the port shifted to West Hythe, and that the sea again retired, when the port was transferred to Hythe. I shall endeavour to show that these changes, if they ever occurred, must have preceded the historic period, and that in the tune of the Romans, as for many centuries afterwards, the only port was Hythe. In fact Portus and Hythe are the same thing, Portus in Latin being Htj'S in Saxon.
The expression " Portus Lemanis " is found in the Antonine Itinerary, where Stone Street is made to run from Canterbury " ad Portum Lemanis," a distance of 16 miles. As this is the solitary instance of the phrase we must pause for a moment to consider its import. Had the author meant to say that Lymne itself (in Latin Lemanse) was the port, he would have written ad portum Lemanas, or ad portum Lcmanarum ; instead of that he uses the words ad portum Lemanis (ablative), — the port at or or near Lymne, as distinguished from the port
• This fact was ascertained some years since by cutting a cross trench. VOL. XL. 3 A
362 The Porlus Lemanis of the Romans.
at Dover (Dubris) or Pevensey (Anderida). The only other occasions on which reference is made in ancient authors to Lemanae or Leinanus, or any cognate word, are the following : — In the Peutinger tables a road is drawn from Canterbury or Dover to Lemavio, (a clerical error no doubt for Lemano,) and, as a castle is depicted at the termination of the road, the Roman castrum at Lymne must be meant and not the port. Lemano by itself would rather indicate the river Lemanus, the old name of the Rother. In the Notitia the garrison of the Turnacenses, or men of Tournay, is quartered Lemanis, which of course must be interpreted at Lymne, that is, in the Roman castrum. In Ravennas the rivers of Britain occur in the following order — Durbis (the Dour or Dover), Lemana, Rovia (the Rother) — so that here we have mention made, not of the town of Lymne, but of the river Lemanus.
As to the etymology of the word under its various forms of Lemanse, Lemanus, &c., some would derive it from the Greek \ifirjv, and if so it signifies a port, which the river always was, wherever its embouchure ; but if we have recourse to the Greek the word should rather be traced to Xi>i^, a marsh. As Celtic and Greek both flow i'roni the same original language, there was probably some old Celtic word resembling the Greek \ifiprj, and with the same signification. It is a curious coincidence that the Celtic Lake of Geneva is also called Leman. The etymology given by Stukeley is more ingenious than trustworthy, viz., that Lemana), now the towne of Lymne, is derived from the Celtic words Ihe, a road (but which is rather a place), and maen, a stone, as being the termination of Stone Street, the Roman way from Canterbury.
Let me now examine the grounds upon which the theory rests that Portus Lemanis is to be placed at the foot of Lymne Hill.
1. It may be argued that the term Portus Lemanis or the Port at Lymne can only mean what it literally expresses, viz., a port at Lymne itself. But to this it may be answered that the Port of Rome was not at Rome but at Ostia, and the port of Athens was not at Athens but at the Piraeus ; and when a port at Lymne is spoken of we must first examine the locality itself before we can pronounce upon the interpretation. Now when we inspect the locus in quo we find that the port could not possibly have bee"n at Lymne itself, for Lymne stands on the summit of a long ascent, and is a quarter of a mile from the nearest point accessible to the sea. As therefore the port was certainly not at Lymne itself, it is merely a question of degree at what distance the port lay from it.
2. It may be urged that the castrum called Stuttfall can only have been built for the purpose of protecting the port, which must therefore have been at the
The Portua Lemanis of the Romans. 363
foot of the castrum. But was this so ? Stuttfall was one of the series of forts, or castra prcesidiaria, erected in the reign of Valentinian, by his general Theodosius (A.D. 368 — 369), along the eastern and southern coasts of England called the Saxonicum littus, to guard it from the piratical invasion of the Saxons, who then for the first time began to be troublesome ; and the position of these castra had reference not so much to the defence of any particular town as to the defence of the most exposed parts. Thus the castrum of Burgh Castle, seated on the cliff on the east bank of the Waveney, guarded the marshes of the Yare estuary, which flowed up to Norwich, but there was no port at or near Burgh Castle. The castrum of Eelixstowe watched the flats at the mouth of the Orwell, but there was no port there. The castrunt at Othona, now Bradwell, was to overlook the levels on the south of the Blackwater, but it has never been suggested that Othona was a port. The castrum of Stuttfall therefore was erected not to command the port but to be ready in case of a descent upon the adjoining marsh, and Lymne Hill was fixed upon as being the highest of the cliffs at the north of the marsh," and so affording the best look-out for a hostile approach. The castrum itself was half-way down the hill, but there was no doubt anciently a watchtower, as there is now a castle, at the summit, and tradition reports that there was once a subterranean communication between the site of the present castle and the castrum.
3. It is argued that, as the Roman castrum on Lymne Hill, which has no wall on the south, must have been sufficiently defended on that side, there must on the south, where now is the marsh, have at that time been the sea ; and, if so, what more likely than that the Portus Lemanis was there ? I answer, in the first place, that Stuttfall is situate on a very steep slope, and that the southern side would be sufficiently secure if it were shut in by a deep and broad wet ditch ; and the stream of Slabrook, which descends into the marsh by the side of the London Road, and is now diverted artificially to Hythe, runs naturally to Lymne. And this rivulet would have abundantly sufficed to keep the ditch full. But, say that in Roman times the sea did lave the foot of the castrum, how does it follow that the estuary there was navigable ? When the site of the castrum was selected the object was security, and if the south side were left open it would be much more vulnerable if it could be approached by a naval force, than if in the front of it lay an extensive marsh with a few feet of water, and a depth of slime or ooze. We may also suppose that, although there was no regular wall on the south, the castrum
•' It is upwards of 350 feet high.
3x2
364 The Portus Lemanis of the Romans.
had some sort of rampart there, hut which, being less solid than the other parts, has since disappeared. Mr. Elliott, the eminent engineer of the marsh, has also just communicated to me an important piece of information. He tells me that in front of Lymne Hill, at the distance of about a quarter of a mile, may be traced from east to west, through Botolph's Bridge and parallel to the hills, an old embankment, which after a course of more than a mile throws out two arms up to the hills, so as to inclose a rectangular space at the foot of the castrum. This he conceives to have been anciently a lake of water, supplied by at least four strong springs, which now chiefly feed the canal. He adds, that, from the incessant rains which prevailed in the autumn of this year (A.D. ] 865), the old bed of the lake was again flooded, while on the other side of the walls or banks referred to it was dry land. This watery barrier was, in his opinion, the defence of the castrum on the south.
4. It may be urged that Stone Street runs from Canterbury to Lymne, and, as the same road in the Antonine Itinerary is made to terminate at Portus Lemanis, therefore the Portus Lemanis must have been at Lymne. But, in the first place, Stone Street was a military road, and the principal object of it therefore would be not the port of embarkation, but the garrison or castrum. Besides, when we examine this old Roman way, we find that it was carried in a straight line, and can still be traced from Canterbury to New Inn Green near "Western Hanger} where we lose sight of it, but that if the straight line were extended from New Inn Green it would point " to the Shipway Cross, and continue down the present roadway which descends the hill to West Hythe. Now this is the only place along the hill where a roadway could possibly descend it in a straight line, and was actually selected as the road to the ships in port, and therefore called the Shipway." " The road therefore did not lead directly to Lymne, but only near to it, and ran to the only opening by which access could conveniently be had to the sea-shore. There were also two branches from the main road, one to the castrum of Stuttfall and the other to the town of Hytlie.1" Stone Street, therefore, with this explanation does not at all tend to show that Portus Lemanis was at Lymne, but rather in the direction of Hythe.
Consider now how far it is probable in itself that Portus Lemanis was at the foot of Lymne Hill. Had such been the case, we should expect to find at least some vestiges, however faint, of the port itself. The ground there has been long under cultivation, but I have never heard or read (though I have often inquired) that any remnant of a pier or sunken vessel, or even any anchor or other part of
» Mr. Thurston's Communication to C. R. Smith, Richborough and Reculver, p. 254. b Harris's History of Kent, p. 367.
The Portus Lemanis of the Romans. 365
a ship's tackle, \vas ever discovered in this part. Again, had the port existed here, the adjacent parts on the hill side must have heen covered with wharves and ware- houses and the dwellings of the seafaring population ; but, with the exception of Stuttfall itself, no signs of population here show themselves. At the summit of the hill stands the village of Lymne, hut there are no indications of its ever having been a place of importance. Some Roman remains have been found near at hand, but there is nothing to show that Lymne itself was the centre and nucleus of a great commercial mart. How unreasonable too is it to suppose that the town connected with the port should have been separated from it by such an interval as the long and steep slope between Lymne and the Marsh.
But there is another and weightier objection to the theory that Portus Lemanis was at the foot of Lymne Hill. It is certain that, if the port icas at the foot of Lymne Sill, the whole marsh must have been under water. The port and the reclaimed marsh could not have co-existed. If, therefore, it can be shown that the marsh was inclosed at the time when Portus Lemanis was known, the port could not have been at the foot of Lymne Hill. First, then, what is the date of the Antonine Itinerary, in which alone the Portus Lemanis is spoken of; and, secondly, when was the marsh reclaimed? The Itinerary makes mention of Diocletianopolis, named after Diocletian, who began to reign A.D. 284 ; and of Maximianopolis, after Maximian, the colleague of Diocletian ; and of Candidiana, after Candidianus, the son of Galerius ; and of Constantinople, which was dedicated A.D. 330 ; and contains other allusions to places which cany us far into the 4th century. We should therefore place the date of the Antonine Itinerary somewhere about A.D. 350. Rome was taken by Alaric A.D. 409, and the final departure of the Romans from Britain may be placed in that year. Now is it likely that so vast an undertaking as the inclosure of Romney Marsh could have been carried out by the Romans during the interval from A.D. 350 to A.D. 409, during which period the empire was fast tottering to its fall? But, besides this, a coin of Carausius, who ruled in Britain from A.D. 287 to A.D. 293, was, I am informed by Mr. Elliott, found near Dymchurch," and another coin of Allectus,'1 who ruled in Britain from A.D. 293 to A.D. 296, and which I have in my own possession, was turned up at Eastbridge in the marsh ; and a cart-load of Roman pottery was also some years since disinterred in the neighbourhood of Dymchurch, and submitted
" It was lent to some one and never returned.
b A friend considers it a coin of Gordian. It has a hole in it, and apparently has been worn for ornament. Possibly, therefore, it may have been dropped in the marsh by a Saxon.
366 The Portus Lemanis of the Romans.
to the British Archaeological Association at Canterbury.' Indeed Roman remains are scattered over the whole of Romney Marsh, and may be found in every field that is ploughed. How, then, can it be maintained that the marsh was under water in A.D. 350, when the Portus Lemanis is spoken of ? and if it was not under water the Portus Lemanis could not have been at the foot of Lymne Hill.
If the Portus Lemanis, then, was not at Lymne, could it have been at West Hythe, which lies between Lymne and Hythe ? This, again, is impossible, for, if the sea flowed there, the whole of West Hythe, including the church, would have been deluged. West Hythe could only have come into existence when the marsh was drained. Indeed I cannot find from any authentic record that West Hythe was ever anything more than a suburb of Hythe. The very name of West Hythe shows that Hythe was the principal town, and West Hythe an accretion to it. Had it been otherwise, West Hythe would have been called Hythe, and Hythe East Hythe. According to Leland, Hythe had once within it four parishes and their churches, one of which was West Hythe, so that the West Hythe evidently did not take the lead, but was a dependency upon Hythe.b
The Portus Lernanis, then, could only have been the port afterwards so well known amongst the Saxons as the Port or Hythe ; and that Hythe was not a Saxon creation, but had been occupied by the Romans, is clear from the Roman remains so abundantly found in and about Hythe. Very recently, in excavating for a dram at the east end of Hythe, on the margin of the old port, the foundations of a Roman building were dug up in the main road, about two feet under the sur- face, and at the same time was turned up a great quantity of Roman pottery.0 We are led to the same conclusion by the fact that the great Roman way of Stone Street which ran from Canterbury to the sea bifurcated as it approached the coast, one branch loading to the military garrison at Stuttfall, the other to Hythe. A Roman road may also be traced from Hythe to Stamford, and another to Charing and Lyminge, so that Hythe was evidently a place of as much importance in the Roman as in the Saxon times.
We derive some further light from Richard of Cirencester, who lived in the 14th century, whose testimony is the more valuable as, to use the words of Gibbon, " he showed a genuine knowledge of antiquity, very extraordinary for a monk of the 14th century." d I know that some have questioned the genuineness of the
1 Report for September, 1844, p. 115.
b Hasted's Hist, of Kent, vol. iii. p. 412.
c See Casar's Invasion of Britain, by T. Lewin, 2nd Edition, p. cxxi.
d Decline and Fall, cb. 31, note. See State of Britain, AJ>. 409 — 449.
The Portus Lemanis of the Romans. 367
book, but, from the many undesigned coincidences contained, I am satisfied myself that there is no ground for the suspicion. One of his itinera is as follows :
" Anderida Portu M.P.
Ad Lemanum M.P. xxv,
Lemaniano Portu M.P. x.
Dubris a M.P. x.
Richard is here giving the road from London to Southampton, and thence along the coast from Anderida, or Pevensey, to Dubrae, or Dover, and thence back again to London, and he tells us that from Pevensey to the river Leman, viz., the mouth of it at Romney, was 25 miles, and from the river Leman, or llomney, to the port of Leman was 10 miles, the present distance from Romney to Hythe. It is im- possible that by the port of Leman he could have meant either Lymne or West Hythe, for it is unquestionable that in the 14th century, when Richard wrote, Romney Marsh had been under cultivation for many centuries. We have grants of manors upon the Marsh as early as in the time of the Saxons, those for instance by OfFa, and Edward, and Phlegmund.1' We have therefore the authority of Richard of Cirencester for saying that the Portus Lemanis was Hythe, and that the latter was, in his day, still called the Portus Lemanianus.
We have alluded to the inclosure of Romney Marsh as intimately connected with the question of the Portus Lemanis, and our investigation would be in- complete if we did not enter more largely upon this subject. The details themselves also possess so much interest from the singular changes that have taken place, that no apology will, it is hoped, be needed for a brief outline. It is clear, in the first place, that the whole of Romney Marsh from Hythe to Rye is a sea deposit. The soil of the marsh is a black mould, the product of slime or ooze, and, wherever you dig, you come upon marine shells identical with those now found in this part of the Channel. The sea all along the coast, and more particularly in the spring, is charged with a quantity of earthy matter, and so soon as the current slackens the silting process begins. The tendency of the silt is of course to sink, but the rate of deposit is affected by the current, and is regulated by a variety of other cicrumstances. A single tide has been known to deposit ] of an inch, and in the basins at the mouths of the sluices, where the water is comparatively quiet, the accumulation in twenty years has risen from 3 to
n As Dubris is evidently the ablative, the nominative case must have been Dubrse. The more correct form of the word was probably Durbw, as the name is derived from the stream on which it stands, the Dour, or in Celtic Dwr, the water.
b See Kemble's Codex.
36§ The Porlm Lemanls of the Romans.
5 feet. Under ordinary circumstances, however, one-eighth of an inch per annum is thought by Mr. Elliott, the well-known engineer of the marsh, to be a fair average ; and if so, an enormous space of time must have been consumed in the formation of the marsh, the mould of which has been found, by boring, to be some 90 feet deep.
Contemporaneously with this gradual deposit, another operation of nature was in progress. The shingle which lines the shore in this part is composed of flints and stones washed out of the cliffs at Fairlight and Beachy Head, and the Downs more to the south.* The flood-tide is up-channel, and the prevailing winds blow in the same direction, and consequently the run of the shingle is northwestward. It is to prevent this constant flux of the shingle and the waste of the shore, that so many wooden barriers or little jetties, called knocks or groynes, have been run out from the shore to low-water mark. Some of the features which attend this shifting of the shingle are remarkable. The wash of the sea carries the flints and stones forward as they fall from the cliffs, the largest pebbles being thrown uppermost, so that, as you walk down the shingle bank to the sea, you find the weightiest shingle on the top, and mere sand at the water's edge. On looking at the piles which support the knock, you will observe the upper posts much worn, while those lower down, and therefore in the greater depth of water, are comparatively intact. The explanation is. that the larger pebbles in the upper part of this moving mass produce greater abrasion than do the softer materials further down. Mr. Elliott informs me, that at a depth of 20 feet water, as the agitation from the winds does not reach so far, the shingle remains stationary. Until, therefore, the bed of the sea has been raised to that height, either by the deposit of ooze or of the shingle itself, there is no movement of the shingle.
The action of the sea, then, upon the flints and stones as they fell from the cliffs was this. In the first place they were forced by the wind and tide along the foot of the cliffs until they came to a point where the cliffs trended suddenly inland. This was at the point to the east of Fairlight, called Cliff's End. Here the shingle was projected forward into the sea itself, in the direction of a straight line running from Fairlight to Hythe. Age after age succeeded, and this spit of shingle advanced until it reached Lydd. Here it was partially checked by the small island on which Lydd stood. However, in time the shingle again advanced until it reached another island, on which Romney was afterwards built ; when
• There can be no doubt that the chalk cliffs furnish a great part of the flints, as the chalk is often observed adhering to the flints.
VoLH
as it w»s certajnlv in the
TIMK OF THE SAXOXS.
and j.i.il.. il.lv in TIME OF THE ROMANS and jierhaps in tin-
TIMK OF THE BRITONS.
A B. Thf fltfittief dfnntc the rmmbrr of J-'eet >,,l.-~ I/,,,/, Wain- Mark.
Scalr.
'Z-j.
The Portus Lemanis of the Romans. 369
leaving Romney, on the east, it again advanced to Dymchurch, and now began to near the hills which shut in the marsh on the north. Let it not he supposed that this is an imaginary picture. It was on this shingle spit, between Fairlight and Lydd, that Old "Winchelsea was situate, and from Romney to Dymchurch the shingle spit may, to this day, be traced all the way under the present Dym- church wall."
Pause we here for a moment to consider the effects of the changes thus far in- troduced. The form of Eomney Marsh is curvilinear, or like a bow, the shingle spit of which we have spoken being the string (see the accompanying plan, Plate XIX.) On the north-west side of the marsh, which was then an estuary, the river Limen or Rother, the drain of the great Andred forest, poured its waters ; the mouth of the river being near Appledore, at the part now called the Dowles.b Here, at the Dowles, is the greatest depression of the whole marsh, caused, no doubt, by the projection of the torrent from the river, which drove the deposit before it, and prevented the silt from settling. Not only so, but for the circuit of a mile to the S.E. of Appledore are found trunks of oak, alder, birch, and hazel, which must have been drifted there, as none of these trees can, from the peculiarity of the soil, be made to grow in the marsh itself. In travelling by the railway across this part of the marsh you may see specimens of these trunks in the ditches at the side of the railway. So long as the mouth of the estuary was open at the eastern end, the inset and outset of the tides twice a day left its impress on the shingle spit, which every here and there, as a storm occurred, was wrenched aside and swept inwards in a curve toward the marsh. In the Geological Map, published by order of Government, to accompany the Ordnance Map, these deflections of the shingle, with a bend inwards, are distinctly and accurately represented. During this period the inclination of the surface of the deposit in the marsh must have been /row ivest to east, for on the west the waters were comparatively quiescent and the silt had time to settle ; while on the east was a tremendous current from the inset and outset of the tides. As regards the direction north and south, the slope was from the sea, towards the hills, inasmuch as the waters of the Limen or Rother, and the other streams which descended from the high ground on the north, kept up a current at the foot of the cliffs, while the water next the shingle spit was
0 Elliott's paper on Romncy Marsh, Transact, of Civ. Eng. vol. vi. Caesar's Invasion of Britain, by T. Lewin, p. civ.
b Is not the word Dowles to be derived from the Celtic word " Dol, a meadow or dale in the bend of a river," a description which so exactly represented the Dowles when the river Limen was diverted along the Ehee wall to Romney ? If a part of Romney marsh was named by the Ancient Britons, the marsh itself must have been reclaimed by them, as Mr. Smiles supposes. VOL. XL. 3 B
370 The Portm Lemanis of the Romans.
comparatively tranquil. Lymne at this remote time must have enjoyed all the advantages of a port, and perhaps was a port. At low-water the river Limen or Rother must have flowed along the foot of the hills, and have discharged itself at Lymne. Indeed, the channel in this direction can be traced all along as far as Lymne by the abrasion of the cliffs from the action of the current."
Meanwhile the shingle spit was pushing itself forward, and the channel between it and the hills was more and more narrowed, until eventually by the violence of some tremendous storm (such as those in the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I.), the bank or bed of shingle which had been long accumulating was thrown up against the hills, and thus for the first time was closed the mouth of the marsh. The point of contact of the shingle with the hills was at a point called Hythe Oaks, being about half-way between Lymne and Hythe. This bar to the exit of the waters from the marsh could not long continue, for, though the sea was excluded, the Lirnen or Rother and twenty smaller streams were continually increasing the volume of water within the marsh, and the only question was, what part of the barrier was weakest, *. e. where would the rising flood force for itself a passage. The shingle spit was burst asunder between Romney and Lydd. Here the pent-up waters, sweeping everything before them, dug for themselves a deep channel to the sea, and thenceforth the outlet of the Limen or Rother, and the inset and outset of the tides, was at Romney. The slope of the marsh which had hitherto been from west to east now began to be reversed. The waters to the cast were comparatively tranquil, while to the west, from the course of the river and the action of the tides, there was a constant scour. On the east, therefore, the silt had time to settle, while on the west it was kept in suspense, and thus it came to pass, that the slope of the marsh was eventually from east to west. At the inclosure of the marsh (of which we shall speak presently) the difference of level was, and still is, about five feet, that is, the eastern end of the marsh was and is five feet liigher than the western. This is visible to the eye, for as you walk along the bank of the military canal you see the marsh at the west end many feet below the level of the water, but as you approach Hythe the marsh rises to a level with it. So great a change in the level, considering the slow rate of deposit, must have been the work of many centuries. From this time, the shingle, which before it touched the hills was all bent inward by the rush of the tide into the estuary, was henceforth laid from time to time in ridges or arcs curving outward towards the sea, as may be seen in the geological map to which we have already referred.1*
a Ilasted's Kent, voLiii. pp. 435, 441. b And see Casar's Invasion of Britain, by T. Lewin, 2nd ed. p. Iv.
The Portus Lemanis of the Romans. 371
The projection of the shingle spit against the hills at Hythe Oaks was caused by the violence of an extraordinary tempest, but for a long period after this the shingle from the west continued still to advance regularly to the east, and for a time without again touching the hills; and during this period West Hythe may have been a port as Lymne had been before. In the course of ages, however, the shingle spit was again wrested aside and dashed against the hills at Hythe, between the present barracks and the more eastern of the two Hythe bridges over the canal. The part between Hythe Oaks and Hythe (now Duck Marsh) was thus barred from the sea, and became a lake into which flowed the rivulet called Slabrook and other springs, and these waters accumulating forced their way back at Hythe Oaks, and there opened a way for themselves at the foot of the hill into the estuary in the west, but as the flood was not considerable the outlet was of no great breadth.
The shingle spit, after having thus touched the hills, first at Hythe Oaks, and then at Hythe, was again carried along eastward until it reached its natural and final termination at Shorncliff, by Sandgate. Between Hythe and Shorncliff however, was left behind (i.e. north of) the spit, a triangular space, into which flowed two streams from the hills, one from Saltwood and the other called Seabrook, and the waters within this spit were gradually swollen, until they forced a passage through the shingle, at a point near the end of the Elm avenue at Hythe. By this outlet, kept open by these two streams, the tides for many centuries passed in and out, and formed the tidal harbour called by the Romans Portus Lemanis, and by the Saxons Hythe. To such a depth had the soil been excavated by the inset and outset of the tides before the shingle spit had touched the hills at any point, that from the departure of the Romans from Britain in the 6th century (by which time certainly the shingle spit had reached the hills and blocked up the passage), eleven centuries elapsed before the channel which had thus been formed was finally choked up.
As to the time when the marsh was reclaimed we are quite in the dark. As to the part between Hythe Oaks and Hythe, now called Duck Marsh, the means of excluding the sea were so simple and obvious that probably the inclosure was made at a very early period by the Britons themselves before the arrival of the Romans. On the south-east the shingle bank was continuous up to the hills, and formed a substantial barrier; and on the west the sea entered only from the marsh at the foot of the hills by a narrow channel; and all that was required was a short dam at this point between the shingle bed and the hills. That this was the course actually adopted may be seen from the remnant of the dam still distinguishable for some distance at Hythe Oaks, but the
3 B 2
372 The Portus Lemanis of the Romans.
part next the hills has been swept away by the military canal. This partial inclosure, prior to the inclosure of Romney Marsh, generally accounts for a fact otherwise inexplicable, viz. that Duck Marsh is not within the jurisdiction of Romney Marsh, which ends precisely at Hythe Oaks.
As to Romney Marsh proper, viz. from Hythe Oaks to the wall running from Appledore to Romney, called the Rhee Wall, Mr. Smiles, in his " Lives of the Engineers," is of opinion that it was innedby the ancient Britons, who had brought the art of embanking from the Low Countries. This is certainly possible, and the only argument against the theory is, that, so far as I am aware, no ancient British remains have been ever discovered in any part of Romney Marsh proper. The general belief is that this great work was accomplished by the Romans, and it is particularly mentioned by Tacitus in his " Agricola " that the native population was employed by the Romans in embanking marshes. The name of Romney Marsh, or the Marsh of the Romans, may be derived either from the Romans having first lauded upon it under Caesar, or from the Romans having inclosed it. " Rhee "Wall," the great Western dam, seems to be a corruption of Rivi Vallum, or River Wall, and if so, it points to the Romans as the authors of the enterprise. It is clear that Romney Marsh proper was under cultivation in Roman tunes, for, as already observed, Roman remains are found scattered all over it, and more par- ticularly at Dymchurch, Ivechurch, Newchurch, and Eastridge. Near Dymchurch, in the direction of Romney, was anciently an extensive Roman pottery, which to this day can be traced all along by the fragments of ware which are turned up in great abundance. No doubt along this part was the shingle spit, to which we have alluded, and which was all above high-water-mark ; and the natural terra firnui of the island of Romney may also have extended far in this quarter ; but the pottery is also scattered northward to a distance over what was originally marsh, and cannot be accounted for except on the assumption that the marsh had been already inclosed.
The mode in which the marsh was reclaimed admits of no doubt. On the south there already existed a sufficient barrier in the great sliingle spit. The only exposed side was the western, and for the purpose of shutting out the sea on this quarter a high wall was erected from Romney to the hills, and at the same time a deep trench was cut from Romney to the Dowles, near Appledore, with a parallel wall on the west, to receive in the trench between the two walls the waters of the river Limcn or Rother. The eastern wall of the trench reached all the way from the terra firma of Romney to Appledore, and from the increasing depression of the marsh was higher and higher as it advanced northward. The
The Portus Lemania of the Romans. 373
western wall reached only to Snargate, where the river was to enter the cut. In the construction of these works there were various objects in view. In the first place, Romney Marsh proper was to be drained, and the deep trench served as the general sewer. But unless the trench were scoured it would soon be silted up, and to obviate this difficulty the river Limen or Bother was forced by embank- ments into the trench. But besides this, the river, by emptying itself at the end of the trench into the mouth of the estuary at E/omney, would serve to dislodge the ever-recurring silt, and so keep open a port. The trench itself also was navigable, and vessels might pass along it by a short cut up to Appledore.a
In acquainting myself with the subject of Romney Marsh I have met with two statements, which appeared at first sight to negative the hypothesis that the marsh was under cultivation in the time of the Romans. First, Harris writes, in his " History of Kent," that a grant was made in A.D. 755 of salt pans at Lymne ;b and, if so, the sea at that time must have flowed up to Lymne. Secondly, a Royal Commission, dated 20 Edw. I. (A.D. 1291, 1292), states that "the King was informed that Richard Ferynge, parson of the church of Lymene, had, by reason of his lands and tenements belonging to his said church, at his own expense repaired (and was still ready to do so) a certain bank at West Ilythe, situate near the sea coast, as often as need required, and that therefore he ought not to contribute to the repair of any other banks, for as much as neither he nor his predecessors, parsons of the church, had ever been accustomed so to do ; and that nevertheless John de Chert, Bailiff of Romenhall Marsh, and the twenty-four jurats, had newly distrained him for the repair of the banks and ditches near the sea coast at Appledore, and Stephen de Pencestre and "William de Echingham were made Commissioners to see into it ;"° and from this reference to a sea wall at West Hythe, the suggestion arose to my mind that the sea might still at that time have flowed into the marsh at the foot of Lymne Hill.
I consulted Mr. Elliott, the engineer of the marsh, to explain, if he could, these two apparent anomalies, and his answer was most satisfactory. As to the salt-pans, I must first of all observe, that the grant to which Harris alludes, was one by King Ethelbert, in the following terms: — "There is a small piece of land, i.e. the fourth part of a ploughland near the Limenea, adapted for drying salt, &c. I have also granted 100 acres of the same track in the place which is called Sandtun, but the boundaries of that land are these — on the east is the King's
• See the finding of the jury in 11 Edw. III. (A.D. 1337), Holloway's Hist, of Romney Marsh, p. 105. b Harris's Hist, of Kent, p. 183. « Holloway's Hist, of the Marsh, p. 99.
374 The Portus Lemanis of the Romans. •
land — on the south is the river which is called the Limenea — on the west and north Hudanfleot :" » with reference to this, Mr. Elliott writes, " The grant refers to Romiiey and not to Lymne. The boundaries will do for E/omncy hut not for Lymne. If at Lymne, the salt-pans must have been in the marsh, and then on the east, south, and west would have been sea, and on the north Lymne Hill. At Romney, on the contrary, the description agrees. Sandtun would be the Sandhills, called the Warren, to the east of Romney, and the boundaries of this tract would be as stated, viz. — the King's land on the east would be the territory to the east, about 100 acres, which was vested in the Crown until the reign of Elizabeth, when it was granted to Romney Corporation ; the river on the south would be the Limen or Rother, which then flowed there; and Hudanfleot, referred to as on the north and west, would be the fleet which may still be traced there, though it has lost its name, and would still be a fleet were it not for the improved drainage." With respect to the bank repaired by the parson of Lymne, Mr. Elliott writes, " There is an outlying piece of wall now known by the name of West Hythe wall, standing across one of the valleys dividing two of the shingle piles between the grand tower and Hythe, on land situate in the parish of West Hythe, and yet belonging to the rectory of JJymne." There can be no doubt, therefore, that this is the outlying sea-wall to which the parson of Lymne is referring. So clear a solution of these two difficulties amounts to an argument for the truth of our own hypothesis.
It does not concern the matter in hand to speak of the marshes to the west of Rhee Wall, as Denge Marsh and Walland Marsh. I shall only add, therefore, that they were reclaimed at a much later period by Archbishop Becket and other ecclesiastics, as is shewn by the names attached to the different innings; as St. Thomas's innings, named after Becket, Baldwin's innings after Archbishop Baldwin, &c. Neither is it to the purpose in hand to trace further the changes in the course of the Limen or Rother. It originally flowed as we have seen along the foot of the hills, and found an outlet at Lymne. Then it was shifted to Romney ; and from the effect of the great inundations which occurred in the reigns of Henry III. and Edward I. it was eventually diverted to Rye, where its embouchure still is.
• Kemble's Codex, chart. 77.
XXIV. — On the Identification of the Roman Portus Lemanfe, by WILLIAM HENRY
BLACK, Esq. F.S.A.
Read January llth, 1866.
ON the 23rd of November last, I took occasion, in the course of some remarks oil Dr. Thurnam's paper on the Wiltshire Long Barrows, to mention the titles of some papers which I had in my mind to communicate to this Society in the course of the present session ; one of them was, " On the Roman Ports in Kent and Sussex." Immediately afterward I was surprised by a discourse, pronounced in your hearing, by Mr. Lewin, who undertook to identify Hythe with the " Portus Lemanis." My own views of the subject being quite at variance with the theory of that learned gentleman, I would have delivered myself, on the spot, of the sentiments which I entertained respecting his communication, while it was fresh before us ; but the time was then too far advanced to permit a discus- sion, and the present date was therefore assigned to me as a peremptory term for answering the case set up by the learned advocate of Hythe.
So far as I can recollect his arguments, they amounted to this : — That sufficient indications did not exist, to fix the locality of the Roman port at a distance from the present sea-coast ; that the Romney Marshes had long been filled up with deep and solid deposits of alluvial or marine matter, precluding the possibility of a port at Lymne ; and that at Hythe are found a town and port, answering the conditions required for the identification of the Roman port in question. In short, Mr. Lewin's former identification of Hythe, as the place where Julius Caesar is supposed by him to have landed in his expeditions into Britain, having been generally accepted (though with considerable reservation on my part), he seems to have encouraged himself into the opinion that the same place was afterward used by the Romans as a permanent marine station. This is, I believe, quite true, so far as regards the neighbourhood of Hythe ; but I cannot admit Hythe to be either the precise spot of the first landing, or a subsequent marine station of the Romans, at least until the fourth century.
376 On the Identification of the Roman Portus Lemanis.
For, in the very outset of this inquiry, it is needful to ask, what " Portus Lemanis" is intended, — that of the Antonine Itinerary, or that of the later Roman records and authors ? The authorities upon which our knowledge of the name is founded are four only ; that is to say :
1. The Antonine Itinerary, which devotes a separate journey, the fourth out of fifteen, to show the way and distance from London to the " Portus Lemanis," and which treats it as one of the three Kentish ports reached from the metropolis by land, from the intermediate city of Canterbury. This I assign to the second century.
2. The " Notitia Utriusque Imperil," which is commonly assigned to the fifth, but which (from internal evidence) cannot be later than the fourth century. Here the Antonine word " port " is omitted ; and the name " Lemanis " or " Lemannis " occurs alone, as the place where an officer of a detachment of the Turnacenses held a garrison, under the command of the Comes Litoris Saxonici.
3. The Peutinger Table, ascribed with good reason to the time of the Emperor Theodosius, before the fifth century. Here the denomination is nearly the same as in the foregoing authority, if we allow for error of transcription ; for " Lemauio " is clearly a depravation of "Lemanis;" and it is attended with the symbol of a gateway between towers," signifying a fortified city or port, equivalent to the denomination " civitas " in the Itinerary from Bordeaux to Jerusalem, written in or shortly before the same age. The other places so distinguished in the fragment of Britain preserved in that record are Ritupis, Dubris, Durovernum, Camulo- dunum, and the Devonian Isca.
4. The anonymous Geographer of Ravenna, attributed to the sixth or seventh century; in whose work "Lemanis" occurs, as in the "first part of Britain," between " Mutuantonis " (which I consider to be a corrupt reading for either Flu. Trisantonis, or else Porlu Adurni} and "Dubris."
To these are added, by our learned and able Fellow Mr. Charles Roach Smith, in his Antiquities of llichborough, Reculver, and Lymne (London, 1850, 4to.), the Geography of Ptolemy, and the work which passes under the name of Richard of Cirencester ; but I reject them both as inapplicable to the present case, for these reasons : the former mentions Kaivos \ifiijv,h which seems to indicate a port
a Compare the gateway, with small conical towers, on the reverse of a Roman coin, figured in Mr. C. R. Smith's work on Lymne, p. 249.
h Netv Port, or New Haven, described as distant 1° W. in longitude, and 30' S. in latitude, from Kavrtov nKfiov, the South Foreland ; while Hythe and Lymne are distant very few minutes of a degree from that promontory.
On the Identification of the Roman Portus Lemanis. 377
in Sussex, not in Kent ; and the latter is utterly spurious, one of the most impudent and glaring forgeries ever imposed on the antiquarian world.
Now to deal with Mr. Lewin's arguments in favour of Hythe, I might content myself by briefly drawing your attention to what has been already written by Mr. C. R. Smith, and also by our oldest antiquaries. Leland, who saw Lymne in a less ruined state, more than three centuries ago, had no idea of Hythe as representing the Portus Lemanis, but saw in the massive walls, and all the circumstances of Lymne, indubitable evidence of its antiquity. Somner, who preferred Old Romney, seems to have had a preference for an old cinque- port, now blocked up ; and, though his opinion has not been followed in later times, yet the very place which he preferred yields an argument, by analogy, in favour of Lymne and against Hythe.
With respect to Mr. Lewin's arguments that I have enumerated, I reply to the first, that Lymne has sufficient indications of its identity at the present time ; first in respect of its name, which is unquestionably derived from and is almost identical with the Roman name ; secondly, from its distance, being, as I mea- sure and compute, exactly the required distance of sixteen Roman miles from Can- terbury, while Hythe is by the road about two miles further, though equally distant with Lymne from Canterbury in a right line as the crow flies ; thirdly, in that it has a direct and most remarkable Roman road, called " Stone Street," leading from the south-western suburb of Canterbury, not toward Hythe, but by a little inclination westward away from Hythe to the brow of the hill on which is the town of Lymne, and on the slope of which is the ruined Roman fortress of Stut- fall Castle ; fourthly, in the fortress itself, of which we know more now, since the laborious and careful excavations made by Mr. C. R. Smith about fifteen years ago ; fifthly, in the Roman altar, erected by the Prcefectus Classis Britannica, and found among the ruins of the fortress during those excavations ; and lastly, in its noble situation, surveying and commanding the whole level of Romncy Marshes — at first a quiet bay ; now, and for ages past, a fertile pasture land.
To the second argument, drawn from the present aspect of the Romney Marshes, I answer, that, however old their present state may appear to be, with proofs of Roman occupation, we might as well argue against the insular condition of Thanet in the time of the Romans, and even in Beda's time, from the existence and appearance of similar marshes between Sandwich Haven and Reculver, and deny that the Rutupian port was ever there. The Roman measures in the An- tonine Itinerary reach precisely to Sandwich town for the Portw Ritupis, though now as far from the sea as Lymne is. The state of the ground at the foot of
VOL. xx. 3 c
378 On the Identification of the Roman Portus Lemanis.
Lymne Hill is much altered by the continuous effect of springs breaking out in a loose soil, and consequent landslips, which in some instances have transported the Roman ruins to a distance, and buried them to a depth of many feet.
This fact is enough to account for the choking up of the mouth of the river, which seems formerly to have flowed along the foot of the cliff, probably that which is now a branch of the Rother, which now has two outfalls in Rye Haven, besido the dikes cut in the marshes. These numerous dikes have diverted the course of the upland waters, and given to some of them an outfall at Romney. But I need not insist on the former existence of such a river as a mere theory, when, the Ravenna Geographer names the " Lemana " among British rivers, and the Saxon Chronicle tells us of the arrival of a vast fleet of invading Danes at " Limene mouth " in the time of King Alfred. It is impossible to deny the identity of Lymne with that name.
If it be urged that " Hythe " means port, so also does " West Hythe," closely adjoining to Lymne, but now no longer a landing-place, except perhaps from the military canal constructed within the present century. Why should this western place have been called " Hythe " at all, unless a port could have existed there in former times, as at the modern " Hythe," which is merely East Hythe, distin- guished from the other ? It is actually called so in Ogilby's Britannia, pub- lished in 1698.
But there is also at Lymne the celebrated " Shipway," the very way leading down to the shore (now the marshes) from the village of Lymne, and through that of West Hythe, on the eastern side of the E-oman fortress, but far from Mr. Lewin's Hythe. From this ancient and secluded spot is derived the name of the Supreme Court of the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, formerly holden (as Leland says) at or near this place, and still retaining the name of " the Court of Shipway." What greater proof of dignity and antiquity can there be than this ? What better identification of the antient place can be desired ? For although it stands now, from various causes, at some distance from the sea, it retains the Roman name of the Portus Lemanis, shortened down to Lymne or Lympne ; and it contains the original place of maritime judgment, on the public way, which in old time led to the ships, but does not lead to " Hythe."
Mr. C. R. Smith thus mentions the "Shipway," in his description of the locality, at pp. 212, 243 of his " Antiquities" : — " The situation of the castrwm" says he, " is one of singular interest. It is on the lower part of a large tract of ground, of considerable acclivity, which separates the Romney Marshes from the mainland, and forms a strong contrast, in its irregular and wild character, with
On the Identification of the Roman Portus Lemanis. 379
the flat and monotonous district intervening between it and the sea. Looking
upward from the level land in front of the castrum, portions of the walls
are seen, irregular and disconnected, bounded on the right by a hanging wood, and a winding road called the Shipway, leading by the little village of West Mythe ; on the left, by a long range of broken sloping pasture ground ; and in front by an inland cliff, crowned by the church of Lymne, and a castellated mansion situated upon the very verge of the cliff." Indeed the whole passage deserves the most attentive consideration, expressed as it is in a lively and in- teresting manner, by the hand of a master, whose conclusions I seek to justify against Mr. Lewin's new theory.
Here too I must add the clear, convincing, and striking testimony of Leland, contained in his Itinerary, vol. vii. p. 132 : — "Lymne Hille, or Lyme, was sum- tyme a famose haven, and good for shyppes that myght cum to the foote of the hille. The place is yet cawled Shypwey and Old Haven. Farther, at this day the Lord of the V. Fortes kepeth his principal Cowrt a lytle by est fro Lymmchil. Ther remayneth at this day the ruines of a stronge fortresse of the Britons, hang- ging on the hil, and cummyng down to the very fote. The cumpase of the fortresse semcth to be a x. (ten) acres, and be lykelyhod yt had sum walle beside that strecchid up to the very top of the hille, wher now ys the paroch chirche, and the Archidiacous howse of Canterbury. The old walles of a the (it are ?) made of Britons brikes, veiy large, and great flynt, set togyther almost inclissolubely with mortars made of smaule pybble. The walles be very thikke, and yn the west end of the castel appereth the base of an old towre. Abowt this castel, yn
tyme of mind, were fownd antiquities of mony of the Romaynes Ther
went fro Lymme to Canterbury a streate fayr paved, therof at this daye yt is cawled Stony Streat. Yt is the straytest that ever I sawe, and toward Cantor- bury ward the pavement continually appereth a iiij. or v. mylcs. Ther cunimeth at this day through Lymme castel a little ryllc, and other prety waters resort to the places about Lymmc-hil ; but where the ryver Limene should be I cannot tcl,
except yt should be that that cummeth above Applcdor .... iii (eight
or ten ?} myles of, and that of cowrs ys now chaunged, and renneth a nerer way ynto the se, by the encresing of Romney Marsch that was sumtyme al se." •
What, then, if we do find at Hythe a town and a port ? What if I should inform Mr. Lewin, from my own measurements, that Hythe is in part Roman ? It is yet to be proved to have been the Portus Lemanis, or any part or parcel of it, at least in the earlier Roman period. Old Romney is Roman, so is New llomney.
• Ldand, as quoted by Mr. C. K. Smith, except the explanations within parentheses.
3c2
380 On the Identification of the Roman Portus Lemanis.
The inclosure of the marshes ruined the oldest port, and the traffic was at length driven out toward the sea, both by the silent operations of nature, and yet more by the same agency which has removed the traffic of the old Roman city and port of Deva (Chester) to Liverpool, and will soon remove that of Lon- dinium, the Augusta of Julian's time, and our great emporium, to Gravesend, Tilbury, and the Hope, viz. greediness of land, shutting out tidal waters by obstinate and senseless promoters of embankments. For I apprehend that, in the time of Julius Caesar, the site of the Romney Marshes was an ample bay, con- taining some muddy islands ; that the inclosure of these by banks, the decay of the cliffs, the diversion of the current, and the natural accumulation of silt and shingle (which Mr. Lewin has aptly described), in process of time choked up the vast anchorage in which the invading Roman Fleet of 800 ships had ridden ; that the proper name of the port clung to the township and fortress of Lymne, after it had ceased to be a mai'itime station ; and that at length the appellative '• Hythe," (which is rather a landing-place than a port or haven,) attached itself to the little village of West Hythe, and afterwards to East Hythe, now called " the town and port of Hythe." If this succession of facts be admitted, it neces- sarily follows that Lymne represents, by situation, the original and proper Portus Lemanis ; while its neighbour Hythe has obtained a transfer of the mari- time and commercial denomination of " port," as a kind of successor in business, but is by no means to be regarded as its local and historical representative.
Postscript. — The altar, which was found in 1850 among the ruins at Lymne, is damaged at the top and on one side ; hence its inscription is mutilated. As represented in Mr. C. K. Smith's Keport on his Excavations (which was printed for the Subscribers in 1852, 4to.), plate vii. and page 25, the inscription is as follows : —
• • iv •
ARAM
. AVFIDIV
PANTEKA
PRAEFECT
CLAS ' BRIT
which I read and fill up thus : —
[DEO NEP]TV[NO]ARAM p. AVFIDIV[S] PANTERA[NVS] PRAEFECT[VS]
CLAS. BRIT[AN. EX VOTO P.] Deo Neptitno aram P. Aufidius Panteranus Prcefectus Classic Britannica ex voto posuit.
XXV. — On the worked Flints of Pressigny le Grand : by JOHN EVANS, Esq.,
F.E.S., F.S.A., F.G.S.
Read November 16th, 1865.
AT a time when the worked flints discovered in such profusion near Pressigny le Grand are attracting so much attention among French archaeologists, it seems probahle that a few remarks upon them, and upon the controversy to which they have given rise, may be of interest to this Society.
Public attention appears to have been first called to the discoveries at Pressigny by a letter from the Abbe" Chevalier to M. Elie de Beaumont," but it is, I believe, to Dr. Leveille" of Pressigny, or to Comte Alexis de Chasteigner, that the merit is due of first observing the real character of the worked flints. MM. Brouillet and Meillet, the authors of the "Epoques Antediluvienne et Celtique du Poitou," first published representations of some of the specimens, and M. Gabriel de Mortillet, the accomplished editor of the " Materiaux pour 1'Histoire positive et philosophique de THornine," Dr. Eugene Robert, the Abbe" Bourgeois, M. Pen- guilly 1'Haridon, the Marquis de Vibraye, and others as well as myself, have taken part in the discussion which has been carried on in France as to the antiquity to be assigned to these objects.1"
It was in January of the present year that I visited Pressigny in company with my valued friend the late Mr. Henry Christy and MM. Brouillet and Louis Lartet;0 and the specimens now exhibited, including those belonging to the Society, are a small portion of those which we then collected upon the spot.
Pressigny le Grand is a small town situated on the river Claise, an affluent of the Creuse, in the department of Indre et Loire. It lies about 30 miles to the
• Comptes rendus des Stances de 1'Academie des Sciences, vol. Ivii. p. 427.
b See Mate'riaux pour 1'Hist. de 1'Homme, vols. i. and ii. passim ; and Comptes rendus des Stances de 1' Academic des Sciences, 1864 and 1865, passim. See also a Paper on this subject by Sir John Lubbock and Professor Steenstrup in the Transactions of the Ethnological Society, N.S. vol. v. p. 221.
c Since this Paper was read, I have revisited Pressigny accompanied by Mr. J. \V. Flower, F.G.S., and I have incorporated some of the results of our further investigations in the text.
382 On the worked Flints of Pressigny le Grand.
south of Tours, and is most readily accessible from the station of Port-des- Piles on the Orleans Railroad, from whence it is distant about 24 kilometres (say 15 miles). We, however, drove to it from Chatellerault — a rather longer journey.
The peculiar worked flints of which principally I wish to speak, are but rarely found at Pressigny itself, and, though occurring elsewhere, are most abundant at two farms called La Claisiere and La Doucetterie, rather more than two miles from Pressigny, and on the opposite side of the Claise. The soil is a red loam, overlying the cretaceous rock of the district, and during wet weather becomes extremely soft and sticky, so much so as to have acquired the local name of melasse. In some places whole fields of this loam were replete with worked flints, and the large specimens, which from their resemblance to pounds of butter have received from the peasants the name of livres-de-beurre, were very abundant, notwithstanding that whole cartloads of them had been collected at the farm-house of La Claisiere and some neighbouring cottages; and the soil teemed with flakes, mostly broken, and with splinters of flint. Near the farm, in a road section, a bed of flakes was to be seen at a depth of about two feet from the present surface, and, so far as could be judged, worked flints abounded in the soil in every direction, even to a small distance below the depth of the present cultivation.
The most remarkable of the worked flints are the livres-de-beurre already mentioned, of some of which representations are given in Plate XX. These are large blocks of flint, usually 10 to 12 inches long and 3 to 4 inches wide in the broadest part, the thickness being in most cases less than the width. In general outline they may be described as boat-shaped, being square at one end and brought to a point — more or less finished — at the other. The outline has been given by striking a succession of flakes from the sides of a mass of flint, until the boat-like contour has been obtained, with the sides slightly converging towards the keel, and then the wpper surface corresponding to the deck of the boat has been chipped into form by a succession of blows administered at right angles to the first, and in such a manner that the deck, as originally formed, was convex instead of flat. After this convex surface was formed, one, two, or even more long flakes were dislodged along its whole length, or nearly so, by blows administered at the stern of the boat, thus leaving one or more channels along what corresponds to the deck. In rare instances these long flakes have not been removed (Plate XX. fig. 2) ; in others of more frequent occurrence one of the flakes has broken off short before attaining its full length.
Looking at a number of these livres-de-beurre arranged together, the eye is
Vol. XL. Plate XX. p. 382.
HATCHET (?) PRKSSIONY.
5.
SCRAPER. PRESSIUNY. f,.
4.
FLAKE, PRESSIUNT.
1.
FLAKE. I'KESSIOSY.
Scale. V\ff I to 5. 1 ; Kig. 6, ].
R, RIVER SF.TNE.
FI.AKK, PKHWIOXY
On the icorked Flints of Pressigny le Grand. 383
struck by the great similarity of form prevailing among them ; and their uniformity of shape and the regular neat manner in which their edges are chipped would at first sight lead to a presumption that they were intended for use as implements of some sort or other. They have accordingly been regarded by some of the local authorities as having been intended for ploughshares, and by others as some kind of large and heavy axes. There is however one very strong argument against this view of the case, as it seems utterly impossible that such an enormous number of them could have been lost or thrown away in a single spot, and there is no evidence whatever of there having been any ancient cemetery at La Claisiere where implements or arms such as these might by some possibility have accumulated as offerings to the dead.
It is true that in certain instances, such as the bone caves of the Dordogne and Belgium, the Swiss, and even some Irish, lakes, we have vast accumulations of worked flints, but in these cases the size is usually much smaller than at Pressigny, and there is reason for supposing them to have been lost, or thrown away as worn out, like the obsidian razors of Mexico, of which it is on record that several were used up in shaving one person.* At Pressigny, so far as I could see, the large livres-de-beurre show no sign of use or wear. Those persons, moreover, who have paid most attention to the flints have come to the conclusion that they are not, strictly speaking, implements at all, but rather the refuse or waste resulting from the manufacture of implements. They regard them, in fact, as the nuclei, ma- trices, or cores, from which long flakes or knives have been removed, and which have then been thrown away as having served their purpose.
On this point indeed nearly, if not quite, all those who have written upon the subject are agreed ; but M. Eugene Robert, M. Decaisne, and M. Elie de Beaumont are of opinion that these blocks of flint, instead of belonging to any remote period, when stone knives or lance-heads were in use, are to be assigned to a much more modern period, even to the days since the invention of gunpowder. They say, in fact, that they are the refuse arising from the manufacture upon the spot of flints for fire-arms, and M. Robert, with a happy fertility of imagination, has determined that the long flakes struck off lengthways of the matrices were intended for gun- flints, while the short flakes struck off transversely from the blocks furnished the flints for pistols.
Assuming this suggestion to be true, we might indulge in some interesting speculations founded upon the comparative quantities of the long and the short
• Torquemada, Monarquia Indiana, quoted in Tyler's Anahuac, p. 331.
384 On the worked Flints of Prcssigny le Grand.
flakes, as to the proportionate numbers of guns and pistols in use in France at tho time when these nuclei were formed, and, as there are at least ten short flakes to one long one, the excess of pistols over guns at the period would prove to have been somewhat surprising. In corroboration of the gun-flint theory, some local traditions have been cited of the manufacture of gun-flints upon the spot ; but though in a country abounding in flints there would appear to be no reason why such a manufacture should not have been carried on, yet 'on examination there appears to be no foundation for any such traditions with respect to Pressigny, and M. Penguilly has moreover shown that the kind of flint found there is not fit for gun-flints. It is moreover fatal to the gun-flint theory that the ground is full of flakes of various lengths, all adapted, so far as form is concerned, to be made into gun-flints, but yet thrown away, and that the nuclei themselves are of a different form, and far larger in size than those resulting from the ordinary gun-flint manufacture, in which the blocks of flint are usually utilised, until no more flakes fit for chipping up into gun-flints can be struck off them.
These blocks must, therefore, be regarded as the waste or refuse resulting from some other manufacture, and there can be no doubt that this was the production of long flint knives or lance-heads. In the first place we find evidence of such long blades of flint having been produced, in the long furrows remaining upon the nuclei ; and in the next place it appears, from an examination of these nuclei, that, as a rule, they were not thrown away until, either from, their reduced size, or from some defect in the flint, they were no longer adapted for the production of long blades. It will perhaps appear singular to most persons that so much care should have been bestowed in chipping these Iwres-dc-beurre into shape, if they were not themselves to be made use of as implements, but were merely the blocks from which flakes of flint were to be split.
It will, however, on a little consideration become apparent that this chipping into a regular form is in fact one of the necessities of the case for the production of long blades of flint. "Where flakes of only three or four inches long ai*e required, such as are used for the manufacture of ordinary gun-flints, the operator may readily, with his hammer, strike off from the outside of his block of flint a suc- cession of chips, so as to give it a polygonal outline, the angles of which will serve for the central ridges or back-bones of the first series of regular flakes that he strikes off. The removal of this first series of flakes leaves a number of projecting ridges, which serve as guides for the formation of a second series of flakes, and so on until the block is used up.
But in a case where a flake ten or twelve inches in length is required a different
On the worked Flints of Pressigny le Grand. 385
process becomes necessary. For it is nearly impossible with a rough mass of flint to produce by single blows plane surfaces 10 or 12 inches in length, and arranged at such an angle as to produce a straight ridge such as would serve to form the back -bone, as it were, of a long flake ; and without such a back -bone the pro- duction of a long flake is impossible. It is indeed this ridge (which need not, of course, be angular, but may be more or less rounded or polygonal) that regulates the course of the fissure by which the flake is dislodged from the matrix or parent flint, there being a slight degree of elasticity in the stone which enables a fissure once properly commenced in a homogeneous flint to proceed at right angles to the line of least resistance in the dislodged flake, while at the same time exerting a nearly uniform strain, so that the inner surface of the flake becomes nearly parallel to the outer ridge. It was to obtain this outer ridge that the Pressigny flints were chipped into the form in which we find them, and it appears as if the workmen who formed them adopted the readiest means of obtaining the desired result of producing along the block of flint a central ridge whenever it became necessary, until the block was so much reduced in size as to be no longer serviceable. I have already described the manner in which this was effected, viz., by first chipping the block into a sort of boat-like form, and then by blows from the sides producing a rounded ridge along the upper surface. This process could be repeated from time to time after each set of long flakes had been dislodged, until the block was used up. The specimens exhibited show these nuclei in various stages, one of them having the central ridge left upon it, and others having had one or two long flakes dislodged from them. A specimen of each of these three varieties is engraved in Plate XX. and a section of each with the ridged side upwards is placed below them.8 The causes why they were rejected as useless are still susceptible of being traced. In some cases the nucleus had become so thin that it would not bear re-shaping ; in others a want of uniformity in the texture of the flint, probably caused by some included organism, has made its appearance, and caused the flakes to break off short of their proper length, or has even made it useless to attempt to strike them off. In some rare instances, when the striking off long flakes has proved unsuccessful on the one face, the attempt has been made to procure them from, the other. The abundance of large masses of flint in the country— some as much as two or three feet over — has, however, rendered the workmen rather prodigal of their materials. As a proof of the necessity which exists for chipping the nuclei from which
•' It should be stated that the specimens in Plate XX. figs. 1 and 3, and Plate XXI. figs. 2, 4, and 6, are in the Christy Collection; the rest are in my own collection.
VOL. XL. 3 D
386 Onthe worked Flints of Pressigny le Grand.
long flakes are to be dislodged into this boat-like form, I may mention that several of the longest nuclei found upon what appears to have been the site of an ancient manufactory of flint implements at Spiennes, near Mons, in Belgium, are shaped in a precisely similar manner to those from Pressigny. A very few nuclei of the same form have also been found in Denmark.
Some of the blocks which have been used for the production of shorter flakes are of the same character as the nuclei of ordinary occurrence, and in the neighbour- hood of Leugny, about 8 or 10 miles from Pressigny, where livres-de-beurre also ocsur, large flat nuclei are found, from which wide thin flakes have been struck. The flakes themselves, which are found associated with the nuclei at Pressigny, are evidently derived from them ; but, so far as I could learn, the long ones are never found perfect, but only in a broken condition, or as " wasters." Three of these fragments are engraved in Plate XXI. figs. 1, 2, and 4. Figs. 1 and 2 are portions of the first flakes struck from the nuclei after a central ridge had been produced by cross-chipping, as may be seen by the character of the external face. Fig. 4 exhibits the cross-chipping on one only of its external facets ; the other, which is much straighter and flatter, being the result of another flake having been previously struck longitudinally from off the parent block. Altogether there is evidence of a manufacture of flint implements having been carried on on a large scale at Pressigny ; but these implements seem to have been princi- pally though not exclusively the long knife-like blades, though the Marquis de Vibraye* and Sir John Lubbock record having found round-ended scrapers and some other forms of implements upon the spot. I have also found a few of these scrapers, one of which, from la Claisiere, is engraved in Plate XXI. fig. 5. It is, as will be perceived, of considerably larger size than is usual with instruments of similar form. Others from the same spot are smaller and proportionally broader. Many of the flakes are minutely chipped along some part of their edges, not improbably by having been used for scraping bone or some other hard substance. I observed this more particularly in the flakes which abound at L'Epargne, a farm on the opposite side of Pressigny to La Claisiere, and about the same distance from it. At this spot also the livres-de-beurre occur, but not in so great profusion as at La Claisiere. There are some flakes and portions of flakes which present small well-defined semicircular notches, either in the ends or sides, but whether these have been intentionally made or produced by wear, or whether they are not rather the results of accidental blows of the pick, given during the culti- vation of the soil, has yet to be determined.
1 Mat. pour 1'Histoire de 1'Homrae, vol. i. p. 520.
Vol. XL. Pl»t, \\l.p. 387.
2.
SKCTION. TIIRKE FLINT CORES.
v I.F. nRANn, INDRE ET LOIRE.
3.
Scale J.
On the worked Flints of Pressigny le Grand. 387
I also found at L'Epargne three or four implements of a roughly triangular outline, and approaching very closely in character to the so-called hatchets of the Danish kjokken-moddings. The most symmetrical and carefully chipped of these is engraved in Plate XXI. fig. 3. Others, from their rudeness, come nearer still to the kjokken-modding type. I may mention that in the collection of the Abbe" Bourgeois, of Pontlevoy, are numerous specimens of identically the same form as those from the Danish refuse-heaps, but which have been found upon the surface in the neighbourhood of Pontlevoy, and that I have myself found an implement of the same form in company with numerous scrapers, flakes, &c., and a few arrow- heads, both barbed and leaf-shaped, in the ancient camp of Maiden Bower, near Dunstable. It would appear, therefore, that the use of this form of implement was not, as has been supposed by some antiquaries, confined to the inhabitants of the sea-coast.
A few fragments of flakes have been found at Pressigny, carefully worked along both edges so as to form a sort of knife or dagger; but they would appear, like the numerous other " wasters," to have been broken or spoilt in the process of manu- facture. Their evidence, however, taken in conjunction with that of other similar but more perfect specimens found in different parts of France, is of great value as affording an at-all-events approximate solution of the question as to the period to which this manufacture is to be assigned, for these long flakes or knives occur in the interments in the dolmens or cromlechs of central France, which are referred to the Stone period of that country. In the museum at Poitiers is one of these flakes, carefully re-chipped on one face and 8£ inches in length, and in the Mus6e d'Artillerie at Paris are two beautiful flakes 8 inches long, the edges neatly finished by chipping, which were found in the Seine in constructing the foundations of Pont Napoldon III. Another, 7£ inches long, found at Thenay, near Pontlevoy, is in the collection of the Abb6 Bourgeois. Another, no less than 13 inches in length, was lately discovered at Pauilhac near Fleurance, in the depart- ment of Gers, and is engraved in the Revue de Gascogne, vol. vi. Mr. Franks has lately procured another specimen found in the Seine, and beautifully chipped. It is nearly 7 inches long, and represented in Plate XXI. fig. 6; unfortunately it is broken across, and a small portion is wanting. And what is remark- able, in four of these instances at least, the material of which the flakes are formed is precisely the same flint as the nuclei of Pressigny. I may mention, that this is a peculiar ochreous-coloured flint, rather coarse-grained and opaque, and that the beds from whence it is derived are micaceous chalk, by French geologists considered to belong to the zone of ammonites peramplu-s or the
388 On the worked Flints of Pressigny le Grand.
Turonien of d'Orbigny. Besides the flakes and nuclei which I have described, polished stone axes occur occasionally near Pressigny, and several of the polishing or grinding stones used in their manufacture have been found in that district, among which a specimen in the possession of Dr. L6veilld stands pre-eminent. Some of these ground axes, however, are not made of the flint of the district.
I may add, that in the gravel deposits at Pressigny, and other places in the neighbourhood, and on the surface at la Pinauderie near Leugny, flint implements have been found closely resembling those from the valley deposits of the Somme and of some of our English rivers ; but the circumstances under which they have been discovered require further examination. On the present occasion I confine myself principally to calling attention to these remarkable nuclei and flakes, which seem to prove the existence of a regular manufactory of stone weapons so long ago as the Stone period of central France, for there is a similarity in the workmanship of the different nuclei so striking that many of them seem to have been formed by the same hand, and it seems more probable that there should have been a settle- ment upon the spot of men who manufactured these long knives and afterwards bartered them away, than that the flints were worked by various tribes who visited the spot as oiie abounding in the raw material for their cutlery. What was the current value of an eight-inch blade in hides, meat, corn, or other ne- cessaries of life must remain an unsolved problem. If the manufacturers were paid anything like the present price for such objects they were certainly not badly remunerated.
But under any circumstances we cannot but regard with interest these almost the only relics of a manufactory on a large scale of cutlery of the Stone period in France with which we are acquainted.
XXVI. — Observations on some Documents relating to Magic in the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. By W. H. HART, ESQ. F.S.A.
Read May llth, 1865,
A good deal of attention has been bestowed on the crystal balls supposed to possess magical powers, and in which visions of the unseen world might be revealed to those who had sufficient faith in the powers of these wonderful mirrors. I do not propose entering into any discussion on the merits of these crystals ; but I will with your permission lay before you, from among the State Papers of the reign of Queen Elizabeth, some curious documents bearing upon alchemy, magical glasses, and magic in general.
From authentic sources we learn that alchemy, or the art of transmuting the baser metals into gold or silver, was in the middle ages not only extensively followed by private adventurers, but also received favour at the hands of the King ; who on several occasions granted his royal licence to certain persons to exercise this art, thus constituting what we now-a-days call a patent.
By letters patent dated the 9th of May, 3 Edward III. [1329], the King, after stating that he had understood that John le Rous and Master William de Dalby knew, by the art of alchemy, how to make silver, and had made, and still did make, the same, and that by their art they could greatly benefit the kingdom, appointed Thomas Gary to bring these alchemists to him under a safe conduct, with their instruments, and all other things pertaining to their art."
By letters patent dated July 6, 22 Henry VI. [1444], after stating that John Cobbe had by petition shown that he was desirous of making experiments "by the art of philosophy " in transmuting imperfect metals into the perfect metals of gold and silver, to endure like any gold or silver growing in any mine, " as he says," but that he was hindered in his work by certain malicious persons, who supposed that he worked by an unlawful art, the King granted him licence to follow his art without any molestation whatever.11
By letters patent dated June 18, 16 Edward IV. [1476], the King granted to
• Patcut Roll, 3 Edw. III. part 1, in. 21. k Patent Roll, 22 Henry VI. part 2. m. 9.
390 Observations on some Documents relating to Magic
David Beaupe and John Marchaunt liberty to exercise the art of converting mercury into gold and silver for the term of four years.'
Again, in the reign of Elizabeth, one John Peterson of Lubeck made certain offers to her Majesty respecting experiments in alchemy, and also for delivering glasses to her Majesty. These were most probably crystal glasses, of which we have had in our own time a notable instance ; when the proprietor of Zadkiel's Almanack brought himself into unenviable notoriety as the possessor and the champion of the mystic globe, which could disclose secrets so awful that one of the witnesses who vouched for the truth of its revelations refused to look on the crystal in court, because she considered it too solemn a thing to be laughed at. I allude to the trial of " Morrison v. Belcher," which took place in the year 1863.
Peterson's offer to the Queen is as follows :
The tennour of this letter to her Majestic as followeth : —
A mostc humble preamble excusinge his boldnes in wrytinge to her highnes. An Apollogie to the noble science of Alcumey.
A declaracion of the longe studye and practize of Mr. Ofeilde in his howse in this arte by the pace of viii ycres, and many commendacions of the man's virtues.
The straight and high charge he gave bynding him by sacrament to deliver theis glasses so sone as he coulde to her Majesty.
A confydente affirmacion of the wonderfull riches (excedynge all comparison) to be by them attayned.
The firste is of Sol prepared and dispersed. The seconde is of Luna devided and dispersed. The thirde is of Mercury made homogeniall.
Theis this letter presenteth to her Majestic by me, so pleaseth her to appoyntc order for the conveyaunce which I have sene, and under my scale so assured, as noe deceyte can be used therin; besides, I have delyvered them into the handes of the Senate of Lubick, to be safely kepte to her Majesties use, and made a publicke instrumente in wrytinge thcrof by a Notary to avoyde all fraude. For theis glasses yf her Majestic lyke not to have them, I will on the perill of my heade bringe. fortye thowsande dollars into her coffers without one penny of her charges, so yt may stande with her gracious pleasure to use my further service herin. per ROBERT SMYTHE.
[/« dorsoJ]
A note of the contentcs of the lettre to her Majesty writen from Jo: Peterson borne in Lubeck.
Rob: Smythe undertakes on the perill of his head to bring 40 thousand Dollers for the 3 materiales.1'
1 Pati-nt Roll, 16 Edward IV. part 1, m. 20. b State Papers, Dom. EUz. vol. 75, No. 66.
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 391
Again, in the year 1570 a crystal stone was in request in order to discover certain money which was stated to he hidden in a house in Kent, and a spirit, by name " Oryence," was summoned to appear in this crystal to answer questions ; hut, as might be expected, he failed in his appearance.
The matter was referred by the Lords of the Council to Justice Southcote and Mr. Stanley of the Mint, who caused certain examinations to be made, as the following documents will show.
The first is a letter from Southcote and Stanley to the Lords of the Council, dated July 29, 1570, thus :-
Our duties most humblie remembred unto your Honors, signifyinge the same that accordinge to the tenor of your most honorable Letters wee have severally examined John Buckley student of Oxford and William Bedoe prisoners in the Towre, lately sent thither by your Honors, whose ex- aminacions wee sende unto your good Lordshippes herewith, and wee did likewise send for William Seres stacioner of London at the tyme of our examinacion to give us informacion of such matter as he could against the said prisoners, and upon their severall examinacions echo of them shewed him self humble and obedient, sayinge that they made plaine and true confession accordinge to their knowleges of those thinges whereupon they were examined, which their sayinges in that behalt semed unto us not to be true, for that they agree not upon the principall offence : as by their severall examinacions to be considered by your honors may appeare/ And thus prayinge to thal- mightie for the prosperous preservacion of your most honorable L. wee humblie take our leave. From London this xxix'h of Julie a" 1570.
Your L. most bounden ever to commaunde
JOHN SOUTHCOT.
THOMAS STANLEY."
The examinations are as follow : —
The examynacion of John Bowckeley Scoller of the Universitye of Oxforde taken the xxviii of July a" 1570 & a° xii Elizabethe Regine &c. before John Southcot on of the Quencs Ma"*" Justices and Thomas Standley esquier Treasurer of her graces Mynt.
First the sayd John Bowckeley sayeth that the first acquentance that he hadde w' William Bedo was about Crigmas last &yt was in the Universytye of Oxford; which Bcdo came to this examynates chambre in New Inne in Oxford and desyred this examynate to cast a fygure for certen monny that was hydden in a mans house in Kent; to whom this examynate then awnnsweryd that he hadd no skyll in that scyence to geve hym tunderstond of any suche monny there ; and therupon the sayd Bedo was very earnest w* this examynate & requeryd hym to sett the fygure & to do his best thcrin; and upon his itnportunat sute this examynate sett a fygure & went w' hym into Kent to the house where the sayd monny was supposed to be to vewe the place, which was over MrBaryngtons
• State Papers, Dom. Eliz. 1570, vol. 71, No. 63.
392 Observations on some Documents relating to Magic
house at Brencheley in Kent; and at his beyng there which was by the space of xiiii. or xv. dayes dyd nothinge but make merry and after retorned from thens to Oxford ageyn, and sayeth that about Whitsontyde last the sayd Bedo came to Oxford to this examynate & requestyd hym to go ageyn into Kent to the sayd Barryngtons house to make merry ; at whose request this examynate went w* hym thether & beyng there and earnestly requested by the sayd Bedo to geve hym some certen knowlege whether ther were any monny hydden in the sayd house or not, this examynate then sayd to hym that he hadd don his uttermost and could prove nothing, and therupon this examynate for ferder assaye havyng a certen cristall stone about hym dyd call the spryte Oryence to see whether he wold appere in the sayd cristall to geve hym tunderstond whether ther were any monny hydd in the sayd house or not, which callyng was in the fyldes nere the sayd house of the sayd Barryngton in Kent, and ther apperyd no such sprete nor any other thing, wherupon this examynate dyd then ons ageyne declare to the sayd Bedo that he could doo no good in that matter ; and after thend of the Whitson holydaycs this examynate departed from thens to Oxford, where he remayned till suche tyme as Mr Doctor Cooper Comyssary of Oxford dyd send for hym and dyd apprehend hym and sarched his chambrc and studye what thinges he hadd there and toke such monny as he hadd, and dyd sarche whether the same or any part thereof were dyminysed or inbased, which he could not fynd; and ferder sayetli such bookcs as this examynate hadde towelling the art of estromancy gematry and alcamistrye the sayd Mr Cooper toke and sent w' this examynate unto the court to the privye counsayell from whence after he hadde byn examyned he was sent to the Towre of London to be kept as a prisoner/ And this examynate ferder sayeth that the sayd Bedo at his last beyng w' hym at his chambre in Oxford which was a little after Whitsontyde last saw this examynate lowkyng upon a booke made by John Baptista Porta Neappolitanus who wretyth of naturall magyge wherin there were soundry experymentes as well of metalles as of other thinges, emonges the which ther was on that treatyd of the demynishing of sylver and also of gevyng of weight unto sylver, which when this examynate hadd redde some part therof to the sayd Bedo the same Bedo desyred to geve hym the copye of that that wold geve weight unto sylver and that that wold make hit white & colored ageyn ; to whom this examynate sayd that if he wold be sworen upon a booke that he wold never use the same wlin the realme, and also upon condicion that he wold geve unto this examynate a tablett of gold he wold coppye the same for hym in Englishe ; and the sayd Bedo then sayd unto this examynate that he wold not only geve hym a tablett of gold for hys paynes, but also wold be sworren never to use hit in Englond sayeing that he wold goo by younde see & practyce the same upon Spanys ryalles And therupon this examynate dyd swere hym upon a booke that he shuld not practys the same wi"'n any of the Quenes domynyons ; and after the said Bedo departed to London and shortely after sent a tablett of gold and a letter to this examynate and a still of glasse by a pore man which this examynate receyved & by the sayd pore man sent the coppye of the sayd water to geve wight to the sayd Bedo And the sayd examynate being ferder demaunded whether he dyd lerne or teche the sayd Bedo or any other to make a powder to demynnes or inbasse sylver or to take any part from sylver coygne and not to impayre the prent therof sayeth that he never taught or lernyd hym or any other any suche art or connyng more then by reading of the aforsayd booke and declaryng the same in Englisse as ys wretyn in the same booke nor dyd ever trye any suche thyng upon any coigne nor canne make any powder or other thyng to demynys any sylver coigne or other coigne nor hadd ever any conference or talke w any person towching the sayd booke or any
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 393
thing thcrin but only w' the sayd Bedo, nor hadd any other talke or comynycacion wl the sayd Bedo towching the demynyssyng or gevyng wyght to sylver orther then he hath before declared And this examynat being ferder demaunded whether he dyd ever practys or exercyse any invocacions or conjuracions to any wycked sprete for any intent or purpose sayethe that he never used or practyzed any suche thinge more then he hath before declared which was the first and last tyme that he ever made any suche invocacion and whiche he wold not have don but by the earnest request and desyre of the sayd Bedo And being ferder demaunded whether he ever practyzed the art of multyplicacion or alcamestrye sayeth that he about Mydsomer last dyd trye whether quyck- sylver wold hold together as ledde or not, but he could not bring it to any perfeccion & more he never practyzed or dyd.
By me JOHN BULKELEY.
JOHN SOUTHCOT.
THOMAS STANLEY."
Thexamynacion of William Bedo Stacyner taken the xxviii. of July A° 1570 & in the xii. yere of the raigne of our most drad soveraigne Lady Quene Elizabeth before John Southcot on of the Quenes MatiM Justices and Thomas Standley esquier Treasuror of her Highnes Mynt.
First this examynat sayeth that he was boren in Glocestre Sheirc w'in the Cytye of Glocestre and when he was about xii. yers of age he came to London and was bounde apprentyce to one Phillipc Skapulis Stacyoner then dwellyng in St. Clcmentes parysshe w'out Temple barr and who now dwellyth at Brystow and served hym as apprentyse the space of vii. yers and kept a shoppe for hym duryng the same tyme by the space of iiij. yers at Bristow afforsayd and after this examynat hadde the parsonage of Wraxall in Somerset Sheire in ferine iij. yers & duryng the same tyme gat a lytle stocke of.monny and then came to London and bought bookes & wares & went to Fayres and hyrcd a shoppe in the cytye of Lyncoln and there sold bookes about iij. or iiij. yers and after he come into Sussex to vysyte a brother of his dwellyng at Arrundell and from thens went into Kent to one Mr Barrynton dwellyng at Brencheley who hadd stollen from hym out of his house viii. or x. 11 in monny and bcyng desyrous to know who hadde the same moved this examynate whether he dyd know any that could tell hym who stale his said monny from him to whom this examynate awnsweryd that he knew of nonne but sayed that he wold inquyre as he travelyd yf there were any suche wherupon betwyn Crismas & Candalmas last yt fortned this examynate to travell to Oxford and beynge thcyre inqueryd of dyvers whether ther were any there that could tell where monny stollen or lost might be founde and he sayeth that dyuers of the Skolers ther whose names he knowcth not told hym that one master John Bowkcley a studyant in New Inne could tell hym best thcrof and hereupon he went unto the sayd Mr Bowckeley & dcsyred hym to tell hym who hadde stollen the sayd monny who awnnsweryd hym that he could not well tell but sayd that he wold cast a fugar for hyt and so dyd in very dedc and saycd that he dyd lowkc in a cristall stone for hit but for all that he colde fynde nothyng and then & there this examynate fell into famylycr acquentans and talke w' the sayd Bowckeley & then the sayd Bowckeley sayd unto this examynate that if he wold gcve hym a Tablett of gold that he wold teche hym the nrtc how to demynysshe
• State Papers, Dom. Eliz. 1570, vol. 71, No. 63, i. VOL. XL. 3 E
394 Observations on some Documents relating to Magic
any sylver coigne in the wayght not hurtyng the prcnt therof and also teche hym to make a water to geve the wight therof ageyn and thereupone this examynate agreed to send hym a Tablett of gold but the sayd Bowckeley wold not lerne hym the art to geve wight till suche tyme he hadd the Tablett and so this examynate departed from Oxford to London and lay at one Mr Wryttes house dwellyng by Seynt Georges Churche in South warke and about vj. or vij. wekes last past bought a Tablett of gold in goldsmythes Eow in Chepsyde which cost hym iiij. li & ode monny and after inqueryng of the sayd Mr Wryght where he might have a trustye man to carry a token and a letter to Oxford the sayd Wright provided hym a bromc man dwellyng in Kentys strcte in South- warke whose name this examynat knoweth not by whom upon the credyte of the sayd Mr Wright he dyd send the sayd Tablett and his letter unto the sayd Mr Bowckeley to Oxforde who delyveryd the sayd Tablett and letter to the sayd Bowckeley accordingly And thereupon the sayd Bowckeley sent a letter unto this examynate wherin he wrote how he shuld make the sayd water to give wight to the sylver coigne that shuld be lyghtened which letter this examynate showed unto Mr Sccreatorye And this examynate ferder sayeth that the sayd Bowckeley before his departure from hym at Oxford dyd in his presence lerne hym how he shuld lighten any sylver coigne which was with a certen powder and other thinges the receyttes wherof he hath declared hertoforo to the sayd Mr Secreatory and to the sayd Mr Standley And this examynate beyng demaunded how manny peces of sylver coigne he hath demynysshcd & lightened w' the sayd poudcr & other thinges sythens he lernyd the same and where he dyd practyce & exercyse the sayd art and what sylver peces of coigne hit was that was so lightened to the first interragotory he sayeth that he hath lightened sythence lie lernyd the sayd art about an viij. or x. ii in monny and hath taken off as moche sylver from the same Icvyng the prcnt therof hole as amounteth to ij. onces of sylver And he hath don hit at Arrundell at his brother's house in Sussex and in dyvers other places as he hath rydden by the wayc where he logged wl a little fyre in a fyrc shovell and he sayeth that the most part of the coigne that he dyd demynysshe & lessen was xii.d & vi.d of the Quenes Matics coigne & some Spanyshc sylver and he ferder sayeth that the sayd Bowckeley told hym when he first taught hym the sayd art that hit was nonne offence in law to demynyshe the Spanys sylver/ And he sayeth ferder that the sylver which he toke of from suche peces of sylver coigne as he dyd demynyshe he dyd melt at Arrundell in his chambre in an iron ladcll and after brought the same to London and caused hit to be fyned by a gold fyner dwellyng in Aldergat Strete whose name he knoweth not but he sup- poseth that his name ys John Wheler And this examynate ferder sayeth that sythens his beyng at Oxford he never spake or sawe the sayd Buckeley but when they were together at the Court before the Councell/ and he ferder sayeth that he hath utteryd all the sayd peces of x\i.A & vi.d that he dyd so demynysshe as well in Sussex as in other Countryes as he travelled and also utteryd some of the same in the Cytye of London And this examynate ferder sayeth that he made non but one Fraunces Godely Stacyoner dwellyng in St. Gregoryes parysshe in London privey to his sayd art and promysed to lerne hym the same art so that he wold geve hym xl." in monny who promysed him to geve hym the sayd xl.' but be hath not reccyved hit as yet and more he cannot saye.
JOHN SOUTHCOT. WYLLYAM BEDO.
THOMAS STANLEY.8
a State Papers, Dom. Eliz. 1570, vol. 71, No. C3, ii.
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
The two following documents are curious illustrations of the belief that if a person wishes to bring about the death of any one with whom he is at enmity he has only to draw a picture or make a waxen image of such person, and then stick pins round about the heart, which process will, by the help of magic art, effect its purpose. The second document also mentions a crystal.
One Atkinson beinge prisoner in Newgate & beinge acquainted wth one Robert Birche who as hee heard was knowen & well thoughte of by Sir Edward Hobby did sende for the said Birche to come to him to have his advise in his affaires ; & at his comynge Frauncis Norton beinge allso prisoner there said that the said Birche was a conjurer and coulde doe many thinges wch beinge heard of M™ Dewse she desired Atkinson to bee a meane that shee mighte speake w"1 Birche.
At his cominge to her she told him that slice had heard of him & longe soughte for him & that the cause why she desired to speake wth him was that by his counsell & aide shee mighte bee revenged of her enemies, wherein she said he should greatly please God, for one of them was that thiefe Younge who lived by robbinge papistes thother was Sr Rowland Heyward, Gunston, & Sye, whose pictures she said she would have made & then pricke them to the harte, or els that by his arte they mighte all dye an they did at the assises at Oxford.
Birche aunswcred her that her practise was perilous & daungerous but he would thinke on the matter & tell her his opynion, & ymediately he imparted the matter to Mr Younge who wished him to see what she had done but to beware that he did nothing himselfe, & cominge to her after- wardes she had prepared waxe rcquestinge him to make the pictures wch hee said hee could not doe for that hee was lame & that hee was lothe to geve his consente wthout the consente of her husbande and shee said that her husband was afrayed to come in daunger, but hee would allowe her to geve asmuch as hee would, but yet hee should come to him.
The nexte day Dewse came to Birche & said that he knewe the cause of his comynge by his wife & did saye that he would performe what shee had promised & would geve him xlh more & Birch said that hee had forgotten their names & Dewse wrote them wtu his owne hande & then he said he would thinke of the matter, & Dewse willed him to come home as soone as he coulde.
Within two daics after Birche came to Mrs Dewse & slice said that she was fully resolved to make the pictures of those villaynes & praied him because he could not doe them yet to stande by her & to tell her if slice did amisse, then she made three pictures, one for Mr Younge & put a pynne into his harte, another for Sr Rowland Heyward & putt a pynnc to his harte & another under his ribbes, & the third picture for Sye & put two pynnes in his eyes, & shortly after Dewse came to Birche & told him that hee feared Norton would betray them.
M™ Dewse hath sent for Birche divers tymes since & sent him a sugar loafe & lemans & told him that shee thanked God some of her pictures did worke well and so she hoped would all the reste & desired him to come often to see them.
Upon scarchc rnadc in Newgate two pictures were founde in her cubord by the Sheriffe in a secrete place w"1 pynnes slicked in them as is aforesaid, and she told Birche that the third was broken & that shoe would make more & the said two pictures rcmaine in the custodie of Mr Sebrighte towne clerke of London by commandment of the Lord Mayor & the Benche.
[In dorso,"} — Januarie 1589. Information against Dewses wief.*
11 State Papers, Dora. Eliz. vol. 230, No. 30.
3E2
396 Observations on some Documents relating to Magic
A true reporte of Mrs. Dewse her wordes conccrnlnge her meaninge and dealinge towardes the Lord Chancellor the Lord Chamberleyne Mr. Recorder & others whereof I remember no more of their names but the ShcrifFes.
Firste she said, 0 sir you are hartely wellcome, I sente for you yesterdaye to thende to praye you that if all my Frcndes deceyve me, & that if neither my pictures nor any thinge I can doe els will destroye rnyne enemies, that then you will stande so muche my goode Frendc to doe somcthinge by arte to destroye all those that are my husbandes enemies in a dampe as I heard some were at Oxford assises which are allmost all the benche by that villeyne Rowland Heyward & Younges meanes, who have since you were wth me sent the knaves Sheriffes to searchc my house who have geven me such abhominable wordes & sent my maide to the Coumpter & so uphelde Gunstone that murtherer in all his doinges, that noe woman is able to endure the same, For they had not onely done her these injuries & soughte to make her husband lose his office, wch wouldc bee both her and her childrens undoingcs, but they had allso made the lord Chamberleyne that hee would not reade her husbandes peticions, and the Lord Chauncelor who was ever her husbandes frend woulde doe nothinge for her, & Mr Recorder whom she thought would not have bcne her enemie, he likewise did now (as slice heard) take his parte that should have her husbandes office, & all was through the knaves Rowland Heywarde & Justice Younge & the Sheriffes meanes, and therefore as slice was myndod she would make all their pictures & pricke them wth pynnes, that they mighte thinke it was Gods doingc because they would suffer theeves to overthrows her husband wll'out any cause And tliat if I wouldc come to her againe w"'in two daycs after I should see howe shee had done them & in what order, for she mente to pricke them all at the hartc, & if they died all excepte the Lord Chauncelor, it was no matter, sayeing how say you is it not a good meanes to workc against my enemies, they tell me & I have often heard it is. Birclic aunswercd that it was a daun- gerous meanes & that slice were bcste to take good heede how she dealtc and whom she trusted in such matters ; and that the best meanes was to pray to God that hee would turne her enemies hartcs, & that for his parte he would bee glad hereafter if he could by any good meanes doe her pleasure. She aunswercd, I thank you, good Sir, & if I doe not prevaile by makingc my pictures, if then you will doe that for nice wrh was done at Oxford assises, my husband will geve you xl li. for your payncs ; Birch aunswercd he woulde doe any thinge hee could wth his owne & her safetie to doe her good, but hee woulde doc it for curtcsie and not for money Then said shee I pray you of all curtesie as ever you will doe any thinge for me take v s. of me to buy a great christall for me & when you come againe you shall sec what I will doe wthall & I will crave your opynion howe you like my Frendes counsell aboute the same. Birche said, I will buy it for you wth a good will & 1 pray God sende you good counsell ; & thereupon she gave him v s. sayeng she would fayne have him stay longer, but that she was afraycd to have him or any straunger sene w11' her, by one Norton wch was a prisoner, who would b^wraye all that hee coulde mistruste of her, And so she gcving him thankes for his paynes & hee gevinge her thankes for her giftes wch were two lemons a sugar lofe & a capon they parted at that time.
These speeches she uttered the same day she was apprehended.
ROBT. BIRCHE.
[7n dorso."] Birche his last conference wth M" Dewsc."
• State Paper?, Dom. Eliz. vol. 230, No. 31.
in the reign of Qveen Elizabeth, 397
Very soon afterwards we find another document among the State Papers which gives an account of various articles of witchcraft found in a field near London, including a crystal stone, on which was written Satan.
May it please your wurshipp to understand That we John Gilbert and John Holmeade servauntes to Humfrey Weld citizen and grocer of London beinge at our masters house at Southstrete in the parishe of Edmonton the xxith dale of this instant monith of September We are comaunded by the constable with others moe to make serche for certen men wch weare about the arte of witchcraftc or conjuringe wch men we founde in the feilde or closes of one Robert Hewes otherwise called Eobert Carpenter wch ij conjurers when they espied us one of them fled awaye but the other of them we tooke wth certen lattyn bookes about him wch are to be sene and he beinge carried, to the constables house and there kept we with diverse others retorned to their cabbyn wch they had made under a great tree in the said closse of the said Eobert Hewes wth certen cirkells on the ground within the said cabbyn and one of the said cirkells was laid about with parchment written uppon wth crosses and by the said cabbyn we found a stoole with divers pottos by the same stoole, and a redd cock beinge dead by it and againste the said stoole a fayre cristall stone with this word (Sathan) written on yt Also a parchment writinge wlh three or foure scales of yellowe waxe at the same we found also in the same cabbyn a cope a sirpler a crowne a scepter gilte and a fayre broad sword ready drawen beinge sett upp againste the tree and diverse other bookes and writinges and a pece of brasse gilded with diverse lettres graven uppon it, and powders and rattes bane wcb the partie that Hed strawed in the waye disapointinge thereby our bloudd hounde And the partie wcb we tooke had about him the picture of Christe on the Crossc hanginge behinde his back under his doublet & on the same stringe before him the picture of serpentes or suche like And the said partie was brought by the constable before Mr Justice Clark to be examined and we understand that the said conjurer is let goe uppon suerties to answere the same at the next sessions."
To the best of my knowledge these documents have never before been noticed, and therefore I beg leave to submit them to the consideration of this Society as curious illustrations of the belief which formerly prevailed with regard to the
magical art.
• State Papers, Dom. Eliz A.D. 1590, vol. 233, No. 72.
398
XXVII. Notice sur une ancienne Statue de Guillaume-le-Conquerant, conservfe dans VEglise de Saint- Victor-V Abbaye (canton de Tdtes, arrondissement de Dieppe.) Par M. L'ABBE COCHET, Hon. F.S.A.
Read Jan. 18th, 1866.
L'image des grands hommes est toujours pre"cieuse pour la posterity ; mais cette image le devient encore davantage si elle se rapproche du temps ou ont v6cu les he*ros, et si la representation offre les plus grandes chances de ressemblance avec les modeles. A defaut des traits du visage, les anciennes statues, lorsqu'elles sont contemporaines, ont au moins le m6rite de la fide'lite du costume, chose toujours importante dans la reproduction d'un personnage historique. Aussi est-ce avec un soin extreme et presque avec un culte que nous devons traiter les portraits que le passe* nous a laissds de ceux qui furent son honneur et la gloire de la patrie.
Ces reflexions nous sont inspirees par une statue de Guillaume-le-Conquerant, due de Normandie et roi d'Angleterre, qui se conserve depuis des siecles h 1'Abbaye de Saint- Victor-en-Caux, supprime'e depuis cent vingt ans, et dont 1'eglise n'est plus qu'une simple paroisse rurale.
Cette eglise cependant, quoique entierement reformde et refondue de 1750 a 1755, conserve encore quelques traces de son origine ancienne et de sa destination premiere. Nous citerons spe'cialement des arcades de pierre du treizieme siecle, une jolie salle capitulairc du meme temps, et par dessus tout une curieuse statue de pierre, a, present placee au chevet exte"rieur de 1'eglise dans une niche faite expres pour elle, mais qui ressemble cependant a une fenfitre rebouch6e.
Hatons-nous de le dire tout d'abord, cette statue n'est point & la place qui lui fut primitivement destinee. Elle e*tait autrefois placee & la porte du monastere qu'elle semblait avoir pour mission de garder. Une inscription du dernier siecle nous re" vele ce detail :
Anglia victorem, dominum quern Neustria sensit
Limina Victoria servat arnica sui; Sit procul hinc inimica manus, vigil excubat heros,
Est Deus ipse intus; crede, pavesce, cole.
Notice sur une ancienne Statue de Guillaume-le- Conquer ant. 399
La raison pour laquellc le duc-roi est ainsi constitue gardien et protecteur de 1'abbaye vient eVidemment de ce qu'il en dtait conside're' comme le fondateur. C'e"tait du moins 1'opinion des derniers moines b6nedictins, et probablement aussi celle de l'Abb6 Terrisse, auquel nous attribuons 1'inscription suivante, a present placde a c6te" de 1'image et en face de celle que nous venons de dormer :
Guillelmus Conquestor
Anglorum rex, Normannorum dux,
Abbatiae sancti Victoris fundationera confirmavit
Anno salutis 1074.
Le prieure" de Saint- Victor, primitivement fond6 en 1051 par le pretre Tormord et par Roger de Mortemer, fut clove1, en 1074. a la dignit6 d'abbaye par Jean d'Avranches, arckeveque de Rouen, et par le duc-roi de la Normandie."
Guillaume, heureux dans ses guerres, cut toujours une deVotion particuliere pour le glorieux soldat de Marseille. Une vieille tradition, connue dans le pays, et presque aussi ancienne que la statue, pretend que le Conqu6rant obligeait les moines a allumer, chaque nuit, des feux sur leur cloclier pour e"clairer a travers le pays la marcbe de son arm6e.b
C'est eVidemment a ces divers titres de bienfaiteur, de restaurateur, et de second fondateur, que Guillaume fut Iionor6 dans 1' Abbaye de Saint- Victor, et que son image y fut reve'ree. II est probable que les religieux, dirig6s peut-etre par rAbbe" Barthelemy (1268-1277), auront fait dresser 1'image de leur patron terrestrec et 1'auront placdc a I'entre'e du monastere splendidement r6gene're',d car
a Neustria pia, p. 545. Gallia Christiana, t. xi. p. 26 1. Instrumenta, p. 13. Pommeraye, Histoire de Fabbaye royals de Saint Oven de Rouen, pp. 348-353. Duplessis, Description Geographic/lie et Historique de la Haute-Normandie, t. i. p. 119. Guilmeth, Descr. Giogr. Hist. Stat. et Man. des Arrondissements de Dieppe, t. i. pp. 230-31.
b Cette tradition n'a rien d'invraisemblable. Un fait de guerre, rapporte par Orde'ric Vital, semble lui donner raison. Notre grand historien Normand raconte que Hugues de Gournay, s'dtant soulevd en 1118 centre le duc-roi de la Normandie, s'avanya dans le Talon et le pays de Caux. II y fit quelquo temps une guerre acharnde " qui crudelissimam in Talou et in Calentensi pago gucrram faciebat." Guillaume du Tancarville charge de protdger les Cauchois vint dire a Henri II. " Ecce Caletcnses mittunt me ad te." LP roi ne tarda pas Ji venir, et un combat eut lieu pres d'Ouvillc-l'Abbaye. Le fils du seigneur de St. Laurent en-Caux y perdit la vie, et son corps fut inhume dans 1'abbaye de Saint- Victor. — Ord. Vital. Hist. Eccl. lib. xii.
c II parait bien que les anciens moines, du moins ceux de la Normandie, se plaisaient i\ conserver au milieu d'eux les images de leurs bienfaiteurs, car les historiens de Jumieges nous assurent que dans ce grand monastere on a vu perseverer jusqu'a la revolution les statues de Clovis, de Bathilde, de Dagobert, de Kollon, de Guillaume Longue-Epe'e, ct de Charles VII. Deshayes, Histoire de V Abbaye royale de Jumieges, p. 183.
d Dans le choeur de Saint- Victor est une dalle du treiziime siecle, presque eflhcee, et sur laquelle on lit,
400 Notice sur une ancicnne Statue de G-uillaume-le- Conque'rant.
la salle capitulaire, les batiments claustraux, et 1'dglise tout entiere furent renouvelds au treizieme siecle. Les pierres qui restent proclament fortetnent cette reconstruction.
Si 1'dglise a dtd en grande partie ddmolie au dernier siecle, si le monastere a presque completement disparu, du moins il nous est restd deux belles choses de cette grande et curieuse dpoque : la salle capitulaire et la statue de Guillaume.
Deja nous avons ddcrit cet dldgant Chapitre dont M. Andrd Durand prepare une belle reproduction." Aujourd'hui nous ne parlerons quo de 1'image royalc, la plus ancienne qui nous soit restde d'un prince qui remplit son siecle de sa renommde, qui fut 1'honneur de la nation Normande, et qui est demeurd 1'une des plus grandes figures du Moyen-Age.
Nous croyons que 1'Angleterre, la France, et la Normandie seront heureuses de connaitre les traits du grand homme par la reproduction qui se rapproche le plus de 1'original. (Planche XXII.)
Cette statue, haute de deux metres, et en pierre de taille, doit appartenir a la fin du treizieme si&cle ou au commencement du quatorzieme. Par sa forme elle rappelle les images funebres des Enervds de Jumieges, des dues Rollon et Guil- laume Longue-Epde, qui se voient h la cathddrale de Rouen, et des rois Anglo- Normands de la famille des Plantagcnet. Je cite surtout parmi ces derniers la statue de Richard Coeur-de-Lion, que Ton voit a Rouen, et celles de Henry II, et de Jean-sans-Terre, qui existent encore a Fontevrault. Je pourrais en dire autant de la plupart des images sdpulcrales des rois de France, refaites au treizi6me siecle par les abbes de Saint-Denis. Comme ses contemporaines, la statue de Guillaume a dtd pcinte et dorde, suivant un usage gdndral & cette dpoque. " Malheureusement," dit M. Deville, " elle a re9u plusieurs couches suc- cessives, ce qui 1'a un peu clefiguree : la premiere couche dtait un bleu d'outremer, a laquelle on a superpose" de 1'or, puis a celle-ci du rouge. Le fond du manteau etait egalement blanc, forrnant damier avec Tor ; plus tard on 1'a peint en blanc mouchete' en or. Le pommeau de I'epde est dord, le reste en vert-pommc ; la tete egalement a 6te peinte, et les cheveux ont dte" dords."
Le duc-roi est vetu d'une longue robe, qui ferme par devant. Un manteau royal, ndgligemmcnt jete sur les dpaules, est soutenu a 1'aide de deux cordons, dont la main droite tient les glands sur la poitrine. Les dtoffcs paraissent
non sans peine, quelques mots, reste de vers leonins. C'est precis^ment le nom de 1'Abbe Barthelemy,
" . . . . JACET ABBAS : BARTHOLOMA(EVS) . . . ."
a Excursion Pittoresque et ArcMol. dam les Environs de Dieppe, 3° partie, No. 21.
Vol. XL. Plat,- \.\lf. t>. 4m.
STATUE DB OUILLAUMR-LK-CONQUfiKANT. EOLISE DK RAINT-VIOTOR-I/ABBAYE.
Notice sur une ancienne Statue de Guillaume-le-Conqu£rant. 401
ramage'es et frangdes avec une certaine elegance. Un ceinturon, disons mieux un baudrier de cuir, passe au-dessous de 1'aiselle et serre le corps du prince, suivant la coutume civile et militaire de ce temps-la. Le ceinturon est de'core' de fleurs qui font saillie, et il ferme & 1'aide d'une boucle carre"e, qui sent bien le Moyen-Age. La tenninaison flotte devant la robe a la bauteur des jambes. Du milieu du baudrier part une laniere, qui soutient, au cdte" gauche, une longue et large e'pe'e.
Cette e'pe'e, qui a pres d'un metre de longueur, semble reposer dans un fourreau de me'tal. Dans sa partie haute, ce fourreau est orne* d'une croix de Malte, sem- blable a nos croix d'absolution des onzieme et douzieme siecles. La garde, fort simple, se compose d'une traverse qui fait la croix. Le pommeau est triangulaire, et la poigne*e est cercle"e. C'est parfaitement 1' e'pe'e du treizieme siecle, telle qu'on la trouve dans les musses et sur les tombeaux de cette riche et curieuse e"poque.
Les cheveux du roi sont courts et Idgerement boucMs, comme au temps de Saint Louis. Sur sa tete est un simple bandeau royal, qui fut pare* de cabochons. La couronne qui 1'a surmonte'e longtemps est en platre, et parait une addition poste"rieure.
Sa main droite ne pose pas sur la garde de son dpde ; mais ainsi que nous 1'avons deja dit, elle est releve*e sur la poitrine, ou elle serre les cordons qui soutiennent le manteau. Cette attitude est celle que Ton remarque a Saint Denis sur plusieurs images royales du treizieme siecle.
De la main gauche il tient un sceptre brise", dont le sommet restitue" par 1'artiste dut 6tre autrefois fleurdelyse".
Les deux pieds sont 6peronn6s, et les deux c"perons sont a pointc, selon 1'usage de ce temps.
C'est a regret que nous ajouterons en terminant que cette royale image, digne de figurer au Palais de Versailles ou au Musee des Souverains, a 6t6 depuis long- temps d^robde aux regards et cach<5e dans un lieu bien peu digne d'elle. Get e"tat de choses, peu honorable pour notre pays, a souvent prdoccupe" 1' Administration D6partementalc et la Commission des Antiquite"s.a
M. le Maire de Saint Victor, dont le patriotisme 6gale les lumieres ct le gout, a cherche" aussi le moyen de faire cesser une situation anormalc qui pesait & son cceur de Normand et de Fra^ais.
Enfin, en Ddcembre 1864, il a die" possible de tirer de sa place obscure 1'antique
• Proces-verbaux de la Commission des Antiquite's de la Seine-Inf. t. i. pp. 34, 78, 244, t. ii. p. 85. VOL. XL. 3 p
402 Notice stir une ancienne Statue de Guillaume-le-Conguerant.
et ve'ne'rable image du Conque'rant, et de la placer dans une niche nouvelle plus convenable que la pre'ce'dente. Cette niche, pratiqu6e au c6t6 m6ridional du choeur, met la statue a proximit6 de la grande route, et en vue de la place publique. Ainsi, ddsormais, habitants et Strangers pourront contempler a 1'aise les traits d'un prince qui fut le bienfaiteur de la contre"e, la gloire de la Normandie, et le fondateur d'un empire qui dure encore au dela des mers. Nous ne devons pas laisser ignorer au pays qu'il doit cette heureuse transformation de 1'image a la bienveillance de M. le S6nateur PreTet de la Seine-Infe'rieure et a la ge'ne'rosite' de M. le Maire de Saint- Victor, qui auront ainsi contribu6 a populariser Timage du plus grand des Normands, laquelle est aussi le plus curieux monument des alentours.
403
XXVIII. — On the Excavations at Silchester. By the Rev. JAMES GERALD JOYCE, B.A., F.S.A., Rector of Stratfieldsaye, and Rural Dean.
Read May 24th, 1865.
THE Roman city known to us under the name of Silchester forms part of a large farm upon the Hampshire estates of his Grace the Duke of "Wellington. The land was occupied till very lately by Mr. Barton, whose name is familiar to archaeologists in connection with the place as having formed a small hut inte- resting collection of coins and antiquities found within or around the walls. At Mr. Barton's death, in 1864, this collection was purchased hy his Grace.
At the date when this purchase was made, the Duke conceived a wish to carry out some investigation of the ground within the walls. A preliminary inspection of the land was consequently made by me in August 1864, with a view to report upon the most advisable plan. Three courses were submitted for his Grace's decision; viz.
First : To excavate the site of the villa which had been partially exposed in February 1833. This offered certainty without delay.
Second : To open at the intersection of the two main roads which traversed the entire space at right angles. The point where they cross each other could be fixed with perfect accuracy. This promised to lead to public buildings of importance.
Third : To ascertain where the plough had most recently struck foundations of any size, and lay them bare, so as to trace from them as a starting point. Such spots would be of all the most easy to reach, and demanded examination more than others, because obviously more exposed to inevitable damage in agriculture.
A further recommendation was added, for obvious reasons, that, in whatever plan was followed, careful inquiry should be kept in view for any traces of the place of sepulture. This would no doubt be outside the walls.
His Grace, upon this Report, decided that the third course had most in its favour ; and an excavation was ordered to be commenced at a spot pointed out by Mr. Cooper, the present tenant, as one where the plough had recently grazed a buried pavement.
Such is a brief preliminary statement of the circumstances under which this
8i9
404 Excavations at Silchester.
most important archaeological work has hecn begun. I shall now proceed to give an outline of the result up to the present date.*
It is necessary first to fix the point at which operations commenced. A modern highway passes completely across the area inside the walls (see Plate XXIII.), bear- ing about west-north-west. This divides the whole into two unequal parts, there being about two-thirds on the south, and the remaining third on the north, of the modern road. The villa opened in 1833 lay on the further skirt of the south portion, close by the city wall. The spot pointed out by Mr. Cooper as that where the plough had recently glinted several feet along the face of a pavement was in the position lying to the north of the highway, and as nearly as possible at its centre. It was near the heart of the city, and might be described as virgin ground to the archaeologist, no excavation of any kind having ever been made near it.
Here an opening was tried on November 1st, 1864, and after a search, of only half-an-hour the pavement we were in quest of was reached by the spade, at a depth of nine inches perpendicular below the surface. It proved ultimately to be the central gallery or corridor of a small Roman house, which stood at a corner where two minor streets crossed each other. Of this house (as subsequently developed) I will now give a description.
A traveller in Roman times, on his way from London to Bath, would reach Silchester by one day's march from Staines, that is to say, from the Roman station Bibrax, or Poutes. He would enter Silchester by the eastern gate, close to the amphitheatre. If on entering the city, instead of keeping the main road, he were to turn to his right, and take the first narrow street he met leading westward, he would in a few minutes arrive at this corner house. It faced the north. Its front measures on the outside along the street 64 feet, and the street entrance was in the corner of this front furthest from our traveller, i.e. the north-west. The entry from the street was a passage 5 feet wide by nearly 20 feet long ; its floor apparently yellow clay over rammed gravel, except at the inner end, where about 6 feet of it is paved with the ordinary red tesserae of chipped tile, about an inch cubic each. Lying in this entry nearest the street were rib-bones of oxen, several bits of the " round bones " chopped by a butcher (all in the same way), and oyster-shells. The presence of several large iron spike-nails here indicated a wooden frame and door.
Passing into the house through this entry we find ourselves standing at the extreme west end of the corridor first struck. This runs, so far as could be ascertained, the whole length of the house through its centre, being itself 60 feet
• 24th May 1865.
Vol Al 1 :
PLAN OF
SIL CHESTER
WITHIN THE WALLS,
slirwinj* tlie EsoWWliMU up to October. 18I.C,
Scalp 100 Feet to i In. ii
TTujf flan if latd rfo».« itit n r vnfy. and ru>t sufiftheti <*a
•
Minor Street from East to West
-/, ;-.// .-.!, n,
•probably reef trf* a, sHecL, ousro&s •frvnv -wail' to w
SILCHESTER EXCAVATIONS.
GROUND PLAN of
BLOCK I .
Scale B* Inch to » Foot
KellBro'Laho C»«tle S^HoIbern.
Excavations at Silchester. . 405
long by 9 feet wide. This corridor was paved with white stone tesserae. If we look along it from where we stand at its western extremity with our faces due east, we have on the left five rooms, on the right two. To assign the purpose of each room from the fragment of its floor, or from its shape, would be extremely hazardous, but one of the number was a kitchen. It is that furthest from where we stand, on the left. The others had floors of tesserae, this of yellow clay only ; and here were found a portion of a Roman mill-stone, a variety of broken pottery, including part of the side of an amphora which had once been carefully mended and retained a leaden rivet within a drilled hole, several small bits of glass, of which one small fragment belonged to a very delicate glass vessel which had pillars or ornaments applied upon its surface, and a lump of lead molten into a mass upon the clay floor under the action of great heat. Many bones were also found here. The floor of this room is 19 feet by 9 feet 6 inches.
The other rooms on the same side of the corridor measure respectively, the first, 13 feet 10 inches by 19 feet, with a floor of red tesserae nearly perfect ; the second, 8 feet 6 inches by 10 feet, with a floor of white tesserae somewhat damaged ; the third, 8 feet 6 inches by 6 feet, with a floor of white tesserae ; the fourth, 15 feet by 19 feet, with a floor of white tesserae, only a few of which remained.
In the last floor there was a deep circular cavity, apparently lined with square 8-inch tiles. It was the result of some alteration. At one time a well lined with flints was beneath this spot. It had been filled, covered in, and floored over ; but the floor was not laid, as the remainder of this room, with white tesserae, but with red tiles, covering a space of 8 feet square. After the house had been deserted, and when a mass of material accumulated above, the filling of the well subsided very gradually, not displacing the tiles. The whole square of newer flooring then sunk till its centre was as much as 4 feet 6 inches lower than the level at which it had been laid, leaving a great basin 6 feet in diameter, which still retained the tiles in rows ; and in this state it was when exposed. It lay open during the past winter, when the snow which drifted into it changed its appearance by causing the rows of tiles to detach themselves and slide down into the middle of the bottom."
8 Extract from Journal of Excavation, subsequent: — " 7th May 1866. Previous to filling back the mould to cover in the house No. 1 , again, the circular basin was dug through at the centre. From below the tiles were raised fragments of wall plaster, with colour, the colours being quite strong at first, a small bronze coin of Claudius Gothicus, a little piece of jet black wood, not rotten, but exceedingly hard, and a few bones of oxen."
406 Excavations at Silchester.
Upon the right of the corridor, as already stated, are two rooms. One directly faces the entry from the street, measuring 24 feet 3 inches by 8 feet. It had been paved with red tesserae, a portion of which, 11 feet in length, was found perfect at the end next the corridor.
Midway down this gallery, on the same side, is a recess or small room, rectangular in shape, open to the corridor along its front, which measures 12 feet 6 inches, and is recessed to a depth of 7 feet. The floor here was of a superior quality; within a margin at each end of it, 12 inches wide, was a mosaic of fine work. The small portion left was the central point of a geometrical pattern in tesserae of half-inch cubes. They had been laid in pink mortar over concrete, and the colours were pure white, drab white, yellow, red, and black. It had, unfortunately, perished under successive ploughings, the very imperfect fragment which was left measuring about 2 feet by 1 foot 6 inches. A careful drawing of this was obtained at once, for it was in a very frail state, and during the extreme severity of the winter which so rapidly followed, although every care was taken to protect it beneath a wooden shutter, the alternations of frost, snow, and thaw entirely disintegrated the pattern, so that by spring nothing definite could be traced. Here, perhaps, was the little lararitim of the house.
This completes internal details. On the outside two narrow streets crossing at right angles at the north-west corner ran, one along the northern, the other along the western wall. Upon the south were a small yard and a long narrow shed, separated from each other by the projection of the last-described room. In the yard was a quantity of oyster shells, many bones, and fragments of pottery. That the space cast of the recessed room on the outside of the house was shedded over is conjectured because the eastern end wall of the dwelling is prolonged to match the projection of the above room, including thus a space 19 feet 3 inches in length. Within this space lay a number of heavy stone roofing slabs, apparently different from the material used to cover the rest of the house. These slabs appeared to be lying where they had slidden down when their supports gave way.
The walls are throughout of flint. The outside walls vary from 24 to 27 inches in width ; the inside walls from 19 to 23 inches ; they have perished to within two inches of the floors, and in some places are level with them.
The coins found in excavating this house were all of bronze and of a late period. They commence with the reign of Victorinus and extend to that of Valens ; no rare type was among them. A considerable number were entirely illegible ; these apparently belong to the age of the Constantines. »
fK
'
GROUND PLAN
Tfn.s fH'rhi'tij cnty //r//'M tin- r*? ly th**
OF
'R 1
£> -L.
SILCHESTER EXCAVATIONS,
S<-:ilc, id1. Iiich-to a foot.
LIST OF COINS AS FOUND
Hotiliis.
Doiuiliaii
Trajaii
S:iliin:i (Iladi-iail)
Antoninus Pius
. N? 2*
24:.
13.
2-t.
. 1. UJ.
Claudius II 1.7.
Postuiuus 1. 20.
Ti-li-icus Se«r 3.
Victorinus
AIiLxiiiiiHiius I. 7.
Coiistantius ( 'I. i.ii-u s 7.
Carausuis 1. *. 5. 6. 7.
Allectu* 7.
Coiiitnntine G& 1. 18.
Const ai»tiiu>j>oli» 1H.
I'l-llS Kol I I.I 5.
Crispua ......... . .1.
Const mis 1 .
Vnlons 1. 7.
Valentiiiiiiii I 7.
7.
Excavations at Silchester. 407
A second house was opened at a short distance from the first whilst the latter was in progress. To this, for the sake of distinctness, the name of Block n. was given. In extent of area this second excavation far exceeds the first, and, as it is still far from completed, the details are passed over until the entire site has been examined.
As I am about to pass from this second to a third excavation close to it, which I propose to describe, it is necessary to point out the position they both occupy in relation to the Block or House No. I., and to each other.
There was no doubt that in the first excavation we had been working among the smaller streets. It appeared important that the next essay should be made in preference upon one of the principal lines. Now the great road traversing the city due north and south could readily be followed by a line drawn directly from the centre of the north gate to the centre of the south gate ; and it was quite obvious that the smaller street already spoken of, as passing from east to west along the front of the first excavation, crossed this great north road at right angles. The distance from the westernmost quoin of House I. to the centre of the intersection of the small with the great street was a little over 400 feet. This intersection was accordingly taken as a clue, and search was made at a distance of 15 to 20 feet from it upon its north and south sides, for the two corner houses likely to have stood there with their faces to the west. Both were found without difficulty ; that on the south was discovered earliest, and hence is described as Block u. ; that on the north (now entirely cleared) being Block in.
Block in. resembles in plan the Roman dwellings found in various parts of England, but in internal arrangements would seem to have been less luxurious than a villa. The area circumscribed by its extreme dimensions is 98 feet 6 inches by 126 feet. Its plan is that of a large quadrangle or peristylium 53 feet 6 inches by 41 feet 7 inches, round three sides of which ran a gallery, whilst on its fourth side were the entrance and three principal living rooms. The remaining apartments were disposed so as to be accessible from two sides of the gallery. (See Plate XXIV.)
The living rooms were on the west, and ranged along the line of the great road. Two of these rooms (Nos. 1 and 8) were warmed by hypocausts from the heat of a single furnace : their floors measured about 20 feet by 16 feet. The hypo- causts offer no novel features ; the rooms were side by side, and one hypocaust communicated beneath the floor with the other. In that which contained the furnace (No. 8) the floor had been supported upon the usual pilse composed of
408 Excavations at Silchester.
8-inch tiles, in columns alternately square and octagonal ; a block of somewhat irregular but substantial masonry sustained that part which was nearest the fire. The other hypocaust (No. 1) was constructed in a somewhat different way (see Plate XXV.) ; the floor rested on a solid bank all round to a distance of four feet from the walls, through which bank ducts or cuts were made from the centre radia- ting to the walls, one at each angle, and one midway at each side, showing to the eye a sort of union-jack pattern ; the centre itself was dug out to form a rect- angular well or sunken area 8 feet by 10 feet, filled with pilse of tiles (one tile only, but that one enough to tell its tale, was left in position) ; the faces of these ducts or radiating channels were masoned up in flint, and flues rose perpendicularly in the walls of this room, where the ducts terminated. Nearly similar hypocausts are figured in plates viii., xvi., and xxn. of Mr. Artis's Delineations of Roman Buildings at Castor. Portions of the margins of the pavement of this room remained in the floor ; these consisted of tesserse of the most ordinary description in stripes of red and white. There is every indication, however, to suggest that this is the fragment of some floor of later date than the hypocaust itself, the masonry of which appears to have been laid in mortar and executed with some care ; these tesserae are laid merely upon a bed of rubbish, and not in concrete, and in all probability they belong to the later ages of Roman occupation.
In both these living-rooms there has been most likely a central pavement of a better and finer kind ; and with respect to this an interesting enigma remains for archaeologists, viz., Avhen were these pavements removed? They did not perish by violent outrage, for there are no traces left, the removal being complete and entire ; nor by the decay of age, fdr tesserae of hard stone do not vanish or waste by lapse of time. There is a circumstance connected with the room nearest the furnace which is both curious and suggestive. Along two of its sides (one of them the side upon the great road), the house-wall has been anciently dug clean away from below the foundations, without leaving a vestige behind. This has not been done elsewhere, and it appears as if the object was by doing this to gain access from underneath to the lower side of this floor. So completely is a removal of material evidenced, that in an area where eighty (at least) of the little support- ing pillars of tiles stood, all had disappeared entirely except eight along the inner side, furthest from where the hypocaust was broached ; each pillar had been com- posed of about fifteen tiles, and consequently above one thousand have been removed. Amongst the rubbish which was dug through in excavating, many tiles of large size, both flanged and flat, were found, but they were those on which the concrete of the floor had been supported, and which formed the suspensura,
Vol. XL PlXX7p.408.
SILCHESTER EXCAVATIONS.
.jSifi§fc2s
RADIATING HYPOCAUST IN BLOCK III.
,
•:
cc
o
z
I- <
0
•
Small Street. 18 feet wide
FLOOR OF MIXED TILES & TESSER/E,
IN AN APARTMENT SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN A SHOP.
Excavations at Silchester. 409
not the pillars. At one point a row of four cap tiles was found, lying side by side, exactly as the hand of the mason had first placed them ; they still touched each other, and had not parted in any way, hut they were not in their original plane, nor did they lie square to any wall, but, as a consequence of their supports having been removed from beneath, they had slidden forward as if tilted toward the centre, and that in a diagonal direction to the line of wall ; below were no pilse ; above no concrete ; it follows almost beyond doubt that in these we have evidence of the removal of the tesselated floor, by disengaging it piecemeal from underneath. Who carried away the mosaics, the Roman masters of Silchester, or their barbarian successors ?
The third living-room lies at the south-west angle of the building. Its floor is a rare example of Roman tiled work. (See Plate XXV.) It measures 16 feet square; in the middle is a rectangular figure, bounded by a single line of square 8-inch tiles, fourteen in the row. The inside of this figure is filled by red hexagons, which leave a diamond-shaped interstice wherever four of the hexagons meet, and these spaces are filled by nine small drab tesserae of stone. The outside of the figure, between the rectangle and the walls, was filled by octagons, leaving small square interstices between every four, also filled by nine small drab tesserae. It is not quite regular, octagons occuring sometimes where hexagons ought to be, and some of the spaces having been filled with black, not white, tesserse, and some with small tiles ; but the effect where the pattern is adhered to is remarkably pleasing, from the variety of form and colour, though entirely simple. The floor has been badly patched in mending by the last occupants ; and at the south-east corner it is broken quite away, heavy flints in considerable number lying upon it just here."
About the middle of the northern side of the house, in a space which can just be discerned to mark the floor of a room 20 feet square, was the remains of a mosaic. A very insignificent fragment of the border was left to indicate its presence ; the pattern was apparently a diamond-shaped lozenge between bands of a similar tint, the only colours perceived being black, white, and red. The mosaic had been 12 feet square, but lying only a very few inches under the surface had been almost entirely ploughed up.
One particular of a very suggestive nature attaches to one of the rooms upon the northern side. In that which is numbered 17 on the ground plan, the walls
a There is little doubt that this is a floor of very late date, and formed by using the tiles (squares octagons, and hexagons) which had in its first construction been employed as the pilse of a hypocaust. In its latest occupation the room was very probably a shop, being at a corner, and in an excellent position. The streets of Pompeii supply many examples of such shops along the fronts of great mansions.
VOL. XL. 3 G
410 Excavations at Silchester.
appeared badly built, as if executed in baste. They were not laid in mortar but in dark mould or mud; they consisted, however, of flints in courses, with frag ments of broken tiles. On closely examining the portion of wall along the northern side of this apartment, it was found to have been raised above the undisturbed remains of a burnt house ; there was at bottom a bed of d6bris, con- sisting chiefly of mortar and wall plaster, with pieces of tile ; above this was a layer of charred wood from two to three inches thick, and on the top of it a seam of wall plaster again, over which two courses of flints (the bottom of the new wall) remained as they had been laid. A careful drawing was made at once of this singular evidence of a rebuilding, and as the later work was so badly done as to be particularly perishable, such a drawing must soon be the only record left of this curious fact.
Wall built over a seam of charred wood.
The quadrangle (7) bears no trace of having been roofed over, yet no indication has been found of a provision to carry off the rainfall. At its centre a hole was dug to a depth of 5 feet in searching for the remains of an impluvium, but none was found. The following entry from the rough note of the excavation of this quadrangle may be interesting. " Feb. 4, 1865. — Oyster shells, a great quantity in north-east corner ; wall plaster painted red in same place ; a small pan of dark grey ware, broken ; a heavy iron door-catch ; yellow clay at bottom ; many small red and black tesserae loose among the rubbish, such as would have been in mosaic work." The galleries running quite round three of its sides were 8 feet to 9 feet wide, that on the north paved with very hard coarse white tesserae, and in good condition ; on the east with red, and in a bad state ; and on the south lines of red, white, and black, somewhat irregular and a good deal mended at different dates of occupation. At the centre of each gallery was an exit into the quadrangle.
The other rooms are in some instances so small as to leave no doubt that they were intended, according to Roman habits, for sleeping chambers. Two however are of considerable size and do not appear to have been meant for that use ; one of these is about 20 feet square, and the other still larger ; the end wall of the latter has perished, but the floor appears to have measured 20 feet by 30 feet. A
Excavations at Silchester. 411
discovery of some interest attaches to this floor, which is numbered 19 on the plan. When the excavation had reached the level of the tesserae of its pavement (of which a few square feet only remained) it was noticed that a portion of the tesselation, not quite at the centre, suddenly broke off in a straight line, its last few courses sinking downward toward the middle. This was suggestive of a hollow in the floor ; search was therefore ordered to be carefully made, the mould there proving peculiarly soft and yielding. When the superincumbent layer was removed the shape of the hollow was clearly discerned. It was an oblong cavity 6 feet in length, 3 feet 6 inches in width, and about 2 feet deep, and had been roughly faced with flints on three sides. It contained indubitable evidences of its use. It had been the place of the strong box of the mansion, which had been sunk in the floor for safety, instead of being built into a wall as we place them. A wooden framing or collar had been let into the pavement, and a wooden box constructed within it, having some pieces of flanged tiles beneath the bottom to raise it above the damp. Three formidable iron hinges turning in loops, whose ends were spiked through the collar and clenched behind it, supported the lid. These hinges stood one in the centre and one at each end, and had oak plank about \\ inch thick bolted down upon them ; the bolts remain projecting from them still, with portions of wood fibre adhering ; the lid when shut was flush with the pavement of the floor. The superincumbent pressure in lapse of ages has caused the hinges to curve downward at their centres. To complete the fittings there were found within the lock-plate, the key, and the iron handle to lift the lid; but beyond a little jet black humus above the flanged tiles (the relic of the planks out of which the box had been constructed) nothing else was discovered."
Remains of the Strong Box. Block III.
11 It will readily be remembered that a somewhat similar incident occurred in the excavations at Pompeii, which gave its name to the " House of the Quaestor " there. In that instance two chests bound with iron had been fastened against the wall.
3o2
412 Excavations at Silchester.
The articles found during the excavation of this large area are few compared with its extent, and consist chiefly of coins. These range over a wide period of Roman history, commencing with the year A.D. 87 (Domitian, Cos. xiii.) and reaching to A.D. 375 (Valentinian I.) ; a large proportion of them belong to the family of the Constantines. Only a few are of uncommon type. The most noticeable are two of Carausius. In one Carausius is helmeted on the ob- verse in an imbricated cuirass, holding a javelin, with the inscription " VIRTUS CARATJSII ;"' in the other there is the peculiarity of the reverse bearing above the usual " Pax" figure, the legend " PAX ATTGGG," this formula being commemorative of the recognition of Carausius as Emperor by the two other Augusti — Diocletian and Maximianus.b A similar coin was found some years back at Reculver, but they are of rare occurrence.
The articles of iron in addition to those already mentioned (the hinges, lock- plate, key, and handle,) are the pieces of an iron strigil found in the prcefurnium of the hypocaust ; a light hammer-shaped implement having instead of a hammer a head with two cutting edges, supposed to be the trimming instrument of a worker in mosaic ; a swivel ring having a pendant and snap attached, perhaps for carrying a lanthorn ; two chisels, wall hooks, a heavy door-catch, and numbers of nails of all sizes. Scarcely a fragment of bronze was met with.
A great quantity of broken pottery was discovered everywhere, but no entire vessel. The fragments belong to every description of ware which we know to have been in use with the Romans. The coarsest are bits of broken amphorae, or of large flat dishes of dark grey ware with a sort of diamond crossbar scored slightly on the surface as ornament. Among the finer fragments are portions of Castor pottery with a white flowing leaf or tendril applied upon a glazed black ground : there is also an unglazed straw-coloured ware in various thicknesses and of different qualities. A considerable number of fragments of fine red pottery have come up on the spade, but no complete bowl or vessel has been exposed ; the embossed figures and heads on these fragments are without difficulty recognised as formed with the same stamp or mould that appears on similar earthenware found in London and in the north of England. It is a circumstance not unworthy of mention that there is a perpetual recurrence of parts of vessels in a variety of material lined in the bottom and up the sides with minute bits of quartz or pounded flint, to assist the process of rubbing up food in them. Some of these belong to the class which has been described under the name of " mortaria," con- sisting of a very dense pale drab clay, extremely heavy, and burnt hard ; but
» Found in room 6. b Found in room 1.
Excavations at Silchester. 413
others arc of the finest texture of red pottery, and can scarcely be described by the same name, although in use they must have been very similar.
I shall now invite attention to the general plan of this city. (See Plate XXIII.)
During our present excavation every attention has been given to ascertain with as much exactitude as the exposed walls permit the general plan of the laying out of the streets. The delineations presented as yet must be considered incomplete as surveys, but the information they will supply is interesting, and it is accurate as far as it goes. It will be worth while to refer for a moment to the surveys of Silchester which already exist.
In the Bodleian Library at Oxford, among the papers of the Gough Collection, is Stukeley's original pen-and-ink plan of the walls and amphitheatre, inscribed " Silchester in 1722." This plan was engraved the same year, and bears upon it, " Vindoma, 4 Aug*. Peritura moenia stylo renovavit Gul. Van der Gucht." In the King's Library, British Museum, London, there are two plans of Mr. John Stair's, both being manuscript drawings, and dated respectively 1741 and 1742 : the former shows the ancient streets, the latter the modern fields. There is also in the same place a manuscript survey by Mr. John Wright, dated 1745.
Stukeley's plan of 1722 is entirely imaginary as regards outline. He considered apparently that Roman camps must be rectangles, and therefore he figures Silchester as a rectangle of 2,000 feet by 2,600, with corners rounded off. But he is more correct than either Stair or "Wright as respects the continuity of the city walls. He shows an opening at the north-east corner close to the amphi- theatre, where they lay down unbroken wall. This opening exists, and is not a dilapidation. It will be found of importance in settling an interesting question.
An engraved plan was published with the Proceedings of the Royal Society in the Philosophical Transactions of 1748, to accompany Professor Ward's second paper on Silchester. This appears to have been prepared from Wright's survey. The outline of the city is delineated, with some approach to exactness, as a polygon with nine sides.
In such of these plans as give them, the streets of Silchester are laid down as six in number running from north to south, intersected by six others running from east to west. The site of the Forum is marked to the south-east of the point where the two principal streets cross each other. The course of the prin- cipal via from the north gate to the south gate is quite correctly rendered, and that of the parallel streets ; but the direction of the great road or via from east to west, cutting the other at the centre, is not so true. This last, being the highway from London, which traversed the city through its heart, entering it by the
Excavations at Silchester.
eastern gate, is perhaps the most important of all, and on it depends the course of the five other streets which have the same bearing. There is every ground to suppose that its line crossed the other main road at right angles, that the plan of the Forum inscribed within the intersection at the south-east was a rectangle, and that all the insulat, or blocks of buildings, were equally so. As laid down, they are unavoidably askew. They describe no right angles, and this necessarily results from the position in which the east gate is placed.
In 1821 Lackington and Co. published a slight survey of the walls, with the fosse, the surrounding country, and the external roads. In 1838 an engraved plan appeared in the Archacologia ; it purports to be a copy of Wright's, but is composed by a junction of Wright's and Stair's. This plan has rectified the shape of the Forum by describing its angles as right angles. To effect this, the courses of all the streets are thrown out ; and it will be seen on reference to it that, although they aro numerically as they were on former plans, they no longer correspond with the city gates.
There is also an admirable survey prepared by Mr. M'Laughlan in 1850 for the Archaeological Institute. In this the country surrounding Silchester is mapped with the greatest accuracy, particularly the earthworks and lines of road. He accepted the delineation of the circuit of the walls and the position of the gates as they stand in the maps of Stair and Wright.
He was, however, too accurate a surveyor not to detect the difficulty inseparable from the plans of the city as hitherto laid down. He endeavoured to reconcile it with the facts before him at the expense of one of the principal vine. Mr. M'Laughlan, therefore, gives up a straight unbroken line for the course of the London Road, and makes it deflect at the Forum. " The observation," says he, " that two of the streets wider than the others lead to the four gates of the city, one from north to south, the other from east to west, is not correct. For, though the one from north runs directly from one gate to the other, as drawn in the plan, the other does not run directly from east to west, as stated ; and, if it did, the streets could not be at right angles to each other, which, in fact, they are" His theory is that the great line from London to Bath entered Silchester at the present farmyard-gate, reached the east face of the Forum in a straight course, turned abruptly there to the right, and passed along that face of the building to its north-east angle, thence starting afresh by a new line for the western gateway.
Now, as the entire city bears on its face the strongest evidence of having been laid out upon a rectangular plan of construction, all its streets crossing each
Excavations at Silchester. 415
other in straight lines, at nearly regular intervals, and at right angles, it is, to say the least, a very unlikely circumstance that the persons who so laid out its plan made one marked exception to all the rest of the general arrangements in the instance of the main road from London to Bath, and that they designedly inter- rupted that one great line by employing the Forum as an obstruction to its direct course in the very heart of the city.
We are now in possession of unequivocal proof that such was not the case. The great line from east to west ran as directly in an unbroken course from gate to gate through the city as that from north to south ; but the eastern gateway was not situated where it has been hitherto marked (that is, at the entrance to the farmyard), and it will be found that by placing it in its true position the road passes clear of the Forum, all the angles of the streets remain right angles, and the " imulai" or blocks of edifices, will be rectangles.
The mistake has arisen from assuming (as was very probable, indeed,) that the modern highway coincided in some measure at its entering from the east, through the ancient wall, with the line of Roman road passing through the original eastern gate. It has not hitherto, as far as I am aware, been observed by any one, that the opening at the north-east (which Stukeley's plan marks as a gap, but Wright and others omit,) is a gateway in reality.
In order to verify the actual position of this gate it was necessary first to trace the line of road across the city internally from the westward.
Starting from the west gate to the crossing of the two great lines, no difficulty arises up to the point of intersection ; the space is about 800 feet in length, and an unbroken course of road is evident, the eye being able to detect a rising along the surface the whole way, and the colour of the crop showing a difference in the ground. By projecting this right line eastward it was found to cut the modern highway diagonally at a point where an elevation at the same angle crosses the surface of this modern way. Carrying the same straight line still further east, it was found to be running directly parallel to the small street, whose course was ascertained by the direction of the walls of Blocks i., n., and in. ; and the further continuation of this right line advanced directly without a bend to the opening already mentioned, and, issuing through the wall eastward by that opening, it passed close by the outer edge of the amphitheatre, touching its "vomitorium" or exit, and having its own transit marked there also by an elevation of surface which crosses another modern highway by the side of the fosse at that part.
It still remained however to make the matter beyond doubt by actually ascer-
416 Excavations at Silchester.
taining that the opening in the walls in question was a gateway. The following extract from the Journal of Excavation gives the result.
" May 13th, 1865. A careful examination of this gap made. The opening was filled merely with thorns to the height of the stakes represented here (4 feet 6 inches). In order to ascertain beyond any doubt the nature of the gap in the wall at this place, a workman was ordered to clear out the base of each apparent quoin, so as to test whether it was a true quoin or an accidental fracture. There is an undoubted quoin on each side. He was directed also to search whether the wall is continued across at bottom. He made three openings to test this accurately, one at each side, and one in the centre ; there is not any wall carried across here. At eighteen inches deep he met a bed of hard and deep gravel, similar to that which has been found to form the surface of every street within the walls which we have tried. He states that when working for the farmer he and another of our men have opened this line of road inside the walls at this point, and have found it to be of very bard gravel about 12 inches thick."
The distance from quoin to quoin is 11 feet 6 inches ; two large flat slabs, which bad been squared at the edges, were found here, at a subsequent examina- tion, which only served to confirm the above position.
In closing my present remarks, I may venture to claim for the statement now laid before you as to Silchester one title to your consideration, which some others on the same subject are wanting in. I have abstained entirely from speculation, and confined myself to ascertained facts. You will perceive from what has been said, that the excavation has not advanced beyond its earliest stage ; no inscrip- tions have been at present discovered ; what is known may be spoken of as nothing in comparison with what we may yet learn, if the work continues to be carried on. We are aware of at least thus much to lead us onward. It is now certain that hidden within the dark bosom of this strange city, guarded still by the almost unbroken circle of those weird walls which defy time and tempest alike, there sleeps many a lloruan home, with its waifs of common things undisturbed by hand of man for thirteen centuries. Among these silent and buried streets are the temples of their gods, whose traces remain to this day ; whilst in the very heart of all lies the yet unawakened Forum, a place of great magnitude, and which crowned the most commanding site within the walls.
XXIX. Remarks on some Early Charters and Documents relating to the Priory of Austin Canons and Abbey of Austin Canonesses at Canonsleigh, in the County of Devon, In a letter from CHARLES SPENCER PERCEVAL, Esq. LL.D. F.S.A. to AUGUSTUS WOLLASTON FRANKS, Esq. M.A. Director.
Read May 10th, 1866.
MY DEAR SIR,
It has been to me an agreeable task to comply with your request that I should examine and give you some account of the parcel of early documents, the exhibition of which before the Society of Antiquaries Miss Portman has been good enough to procure.
I find that these documents refer exclusively to the religious house of Canonsleigh, or, as it was sometimes called after the second foundation there of canonesses, Mynchenlegh, situate in the county of Devon, and diocese of Exeter.
Dr. George Oliver, in his learned Monasticon Diocesis Exoniensis, has given an account at some length of this foundation," mainly derived from a cartulary of the house now preserved in the British Museum.k
From Dr. Oliver's memoir we learn that Walter de Clavile,0 who held Burles- combe (near Tiverton, on the borders of Devon and Somersetshii'e,) of the honour of Gloucester, founded a priory of Augustinian Canons at Legh in that parish, in or near the year 1162.
Dr. Oliver notices that, in some way, Canonsleigh had become connected with the great priory of Plympton. With reference to this it may be observed that in William Earl of Gloucester's charter of confirmation of the original foundation the canons are called " Canonici secundum ordinem Plymptone Christo famu-
• Mon. Dioc. Exon. p. 224. b MS. Harl. 3CCO.
0 The Clavile family were once of considerable importance in Devon and Dorset. At the time of the Survey Walter <le Clavile held in chief not only Burlescombe, but also several other manors in Devonshire (Domesday, i. 1 12), and Morden near Blandford, and other manors in Dorsetshire. His descendant, pro- bably his grandson, the founder of Canonsleigh, held two knight's fees ill Devonshire of the honour of Gloucester, and was so returned by William Earl of Gloucester in 12 Hen. II. (See Lib. Nig. Scacc. apud Hearne, p. 1G1, and Polwhele's Devon, p. 203.) No complete genealogy of the family appears to exist. The VOL. XL. 3 H
418 Charters and Documents relating to the
lantes " : and that part of Walter de Clavile's gift (the churches of Burlescomhe and Morden) had already been given by him to the priory of Plympton, as appears
following pedigree is taken in part from Pole's Devon Collections, p. 212, enlarged by a careful exa- mination of the Harleian Cartulary : —
Walter de Clavile, Lord of Burlescombe, &c. co. Devon, and of Morden, &c. co. Dorset, temp. Will. I.
William de Clavile1^
Joheta2 ^Sir Walter de Clavile, founded Canonsleigh, c. 1162. Ralph.2 Gilbert.2
i . — | 1 — |
Juliana4=j=William de Clavile, confirmed his father's Adeliza.2 Agnes.2 3
gifts.2 3 Mabilia.2 Hadewis.2
Walter de Clavile, son and heir4 5 Sir Roger de Clavile,7 alive 33,8 45,9 47,10 and=Johanna.B (ob. s p.?) 48 Hen. III.11 (heir to his brother?)
Sir John de Clavile, first of that name, Lord of Burlescombe 1282,12 confirmed to the new foundation in 1311 his ancestor's gifts of tithe of his demesne here, and of certain tithes at Mordeu.
Here the connection of the Claviles with Canonsleigh ceases. Sir W. Pole makes Sir John I. to be brother and not son to Sir Roger. His pedigree is without vouchers, but is probably derived as to this portion from the pleadings in the suit between Beare and Percehay presently to be mentioned.
He proceeds as follows : —
tiir William (as before).^ .....
Sir Roger, ob. s.p. John de Clavile (I), brother and heir.=p ..... John (H.- ....
I -- --- 1 Robert Beare of Huntshum, 3 E. 2 =j=Agnes de Clavile. John de Clavile (111.)^=. . . .
I — r~
John Ik-are.=pAlice, dau. of Thomas Clavile of Lifton. William.^. . . .
Thomas Beare, claimed Lomen Clavile as next heir of William=p ..... William, ob. s.p. circa ajrainst Sir Henry Percehay, the judge, whose title would | temp. Ric. II.
appear to have been derived from a purchase. .-(-.
In Hutchins's History of Dorset 13 it is stated that John Clavyle held Morden cum membris in the 6th of Edward II. for two fees, of the Earl of Gloucester. This is no doubt our John de Clavile I. He was
1 Sir W. Pole inserts a William, Walter, and William between the Walter of Domesday and the founder. - See Walter's charter of foundation printed in Oliver, JJioc. Exon. p 22C. :1 Charter of confirmation. MS. Harl. 3C60, Legh, Clavile, No. vii.
4 Ibid. Clavile charters, No. x. ° Ibid. No. xi. G Ibid. No. xiii.
7 Rogerus de Clavile fil. et hair. Will, de C. dedit terras Prioratui S. Nicholai Exon. Coll. Topogr. et Gen. i. 385. s Cartul. Clavile, No. xv. " Ibid. fo. 42.
10 Ibid. fo. 686. n Ibid. fo. 69. '* Infra, App. No. V.
1:1 Under East Morden, iii. 130.
Priory and Abbey td Canonsleigh. 419
from Henry the Second's confirmation charter to that house.8 Plympton was the earliest foundation of Austin Canons in this part of England, and Canonsleigh was probably an offshoot from it. This would go some way to explain the claims of the priory of Plympton to interfere in elections to the headship of Canonsleigh, the settlement of which claims in 1219 Dr. Oliver has recorded.
This foundation, after continuing for more than a hundred years, during which time, as appears from the cartulary, it was augmented by many gifts of lands from neighbouring families, ceased to exist in 1284, when the monastery, with its estates, was made over to a community of regular canonesses, also of the Augustinian order, under the government of an abbess. The foundress of the new establish- ment was Matilda, widow of Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, and daughter of John de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln.
dead it would seem, leaving a son under age, in the 1st year of Edward III., as a writ then issued to the escheator on this side Trent to seize, among other estates in a similar plight, the lands of which John Cla- vyle deceased had died seised.1 This was in consequence of the attainder of Hugh Despencer the younger, who had married one of the coheirs of the honour of Gloucester ; and two years after, Geoffrey de Royston had a grant of the custody of two-thirds of the manor of Bridelescumbe (Burlescombe), which was of John de Clavile, deceased, to hold until the majority of the heir.2 What relationship this heir of John I. bore to him does not appear. If, as Sir W. Pole has it, it was his son of the same name (John II.), he must, I think, have died before the 23rd Edward III. leaving a third John his heir. For in that year Andrew Luterell had a grant of the custody of the manor of Burlescombe, together with Lomene (Lowman) Clavile, to hold during the minority of the heir of John de Clavile, who held of Hugh Despencer, deceased, &c. Now this heir of John de Clavile can hardly be the same as " the heir of John de Clavile" before mentioned (that is of John de Clavile I.), as John I. was dead in the 1st year of the reign, and his heir, even if a posthumous son (the extreme case) must have been out of ward in the 23rd year. Pole's statement is probably correct as to three successive fathers and sons all of the same name, though, in spite of the identity of Christian name, John II. may possibly have been a brother of John I. In the 25th year of Edward III. this Andrew Luterell had a grant of the marriage of the son of John de Clavill." This son was probably John, the third John of Pole's pedigree, as in 47 Edw. III. John Clavel of Morden (according to Hutchins4) held lands in Little Kimmeridge. Hutching next mentions a William Clavile (who died 20 Ric. II.) who held East and West Morden of Edmund, Earl of March, by knight's service. He adds that these Claviles seem to have been the principal branch of the family, and to have become extinct at Morden about 1374. A younger branch continued to Hutchins's day at Smedmore in Dorsetshire.''1 These facts, so f;ir as they go, substantiate Sir W. Pole's pedigree. • Oliver, p. 135.
1 Abb. Rot. Orig. ii. 5, col. i. ro. 8. « Ibid p 28, col. i. ro. 7, Cant.
3 Ibiil. p 216, col. i. ro. 4. 4 Ubi supra,
8 See his vol. i. 3 1C, where a pedigree of this branch is given, but the connection with the1 modern family is not made out.
3 ii 2
420 Charters and Documents relating to the
Lord Portman's deeds and other instruments relate, I find, to both foundations. From their nature, all of these are not entered in the Harleian Cartulary," which, as usual, comprises merely the charters of feoflinent and other muniments of title respecting the various estates possessed by the community. From these original documents, unknown to Dr. Oliver, some additional information as to the history of the two houses may be gleaned ; and some of the mere title-deeds in the parcel may possess sufficient independent interest to warrant their publication by the Society of Antiquaries.
To begin with the documents relating to the original foundation. The earliest instrument, printed in Appendix No. I. relates to the appropriation to the priory of the church of Sampford (anciently Sandford) Arundel, a parish which lies in the diocese of Wells, just over the Somersetshire border, within a few miles of Leigh. Roger Arundel, as appears from the cartulary ,b had given the church to the monastery before 1205, and Savaricus, Bishop of Bath and Glastonbury c (1192-1205), had appropriated it to the use of the prior and canons.d Some dispute, however, would seem to have arisen as to this transaction, for in the instrument of appropriation AVC find it stated that the canons, by the ordination of Josce- line, Bishop of Bath and Wells (1205-1242) had an annuity of twenty shillings out of the church, a fact which at first sight at least appears inconsistent with their having the entire appropriation. Be this as it may, their right to the
* Each of the deeds transcribed into the cartulary has a mark of reference thereto endorsed on it.
'' Harl. 3, GOO, fo. 01. The following genealogical notes from the cartulary may be worth preserving: —
Roger Arundel.=j=
Nicholas Arundel, his charter (fo. Cl), witnessed by Robert Archdeacon of Guildford1s=:Joan.
John Arundel, party to a fine of Sampford church, 27 H. 3 (fo. 61 b.)
John Arundel (fo. 65 ft).=plsabel.
r
John Arundel (fo. C5 b).-^-
John Puz=Joan, probably sister and coheiress Arundela, dau. of John Arundel (fo. 68)^Richard Crispin, (fo. 68,). with Arundela (fo. 6«). fee Colliuson, Somertets. iii. 26. (fo. 68).
William Crispin, son and heir presumptive, alive 48 H. 3.=y=Joan (Collinson, iii. 26).
Roger Crispin de Sandford Arundel, alive 4 Ed. II.'(fo. G'J), Bradston(CW-=T=Joan (Col- ob. s.p. 7 Ed. II. (Collinson). linson). liiison).
Elizabeth ((7o//wwoii).^=Sir John Streche, died seized of Sampford 2'J Ed. III.
4-
' See Dugd. Mtmusticim as to this title. d MS. Harl. 3,660, p. 61 b.
1 One of the name Hobert was Archdeacon of Surrey, according to Le Neve, in 1130 and 1171.
Priory and Abbey at Canonsleigh. 421
advowson and to the annuity was disputed by Sir John Arundel, descendant of Roger the benefactor, who, after some legal proceedings in the King's Court, probably in the nature of a quare impedit, presented (shortly before the year 1243) Master Walter de Saint Quintin, canon of "Wells and archdeacon of Taunton, to the church of Sampford Arundel. This ecclesiastic, as appears from the recital of the next instrument, was a good friend to the canons, and it was probably through his means that some arrangement was effected between the rival patrons of the church, which resulted in the levying a fine before the Justices Itinerant at Ilchester on the octaves of Candlemas 1243 (27 Hen. III.), which confirmed the convent in their right to the advowson.
The canons, being thus the admitted patrons, were in a position to receive an appropriation of the benefice.
At the moment, the see of Wells was void by the death of Josceline of Wells,' and the archdeacon, who claimed to have, in consequence of the vacancy, the necessary spiritual jurisdiction in that behalf," proceeded, by the instrument now under notice, to appropriate the church to the monastery, under the usual pretext of the poverty of the canons, and their consequent inability to maintain due hospitality.
The archdeacon, however, was careful of the interests of himself and successors. For not only did he, following as he says the rule of Bishop Josceline as to new appropriations, double the synodals payable out of the rectory of Sampford to the archdeacons of Taunton on the occasion of their visitations, but also procured for the archdeaconry a benefaction (it would seem as the consideration for the quiet acquisition by the canons of Leigh of the church of Sampford,) of a substantial character.
This brings us to the next of Lord Portman's documents, that printed in Appendix No. II.
" Josceline died Nov. 19, 1242, and his successor was not elected for two years afterwards. Dugd. Mm. ii. 277.
ti Some attempt at examining the validity of this claim will be found in a footnote to the Appendix No. I. Whether the convent was not satisfied as to the validity of the appropriation made by the arch- deacon, sede vacante, or what the reason may have been, we cannot tell ; but it appears from the cartulary that William de Bitton, who succeeded to the see of Bath and Wells in 1248, after the short incumbency of Bishop Roger of 8arum (1244-1247), in the first year of his pontificate again appropriated Sampford to the monastery by an instrument, which, though in other respects very nearly following the tenor of the archdnacon's appropriation, omits all reference to it, except what may be implied from the following clause, " HKC autem sic duximus ordiuanda salvis nobis et successoribus nostris per omuia dignitate, auctoritate et jurisdictione et episcopalibus consuetudinibus el archidiacono loci jure orchid iaconali" &c.
422 Charters and Documents relating to the
The advowson of the church of Thorne St. Margaret, which is situated in the rural deanery of Taunton, close to Sampford Arundel, and within a few miles of Leigh, had been given to the canons by Baldwin de Thorne* some years after the foundation of the priory.6
This advowson, on St. George's Day 1243, was made over by the canons to the archdeacon. The deed recites, as a consideration for the conveyance, his good offices, benevolence, and generosity to the house, and other good causes (probably including the appropriation of Sampford),0 and proceeds to state that, with the consent of Baldwin, and the prior and convent of Leigh, the former and the actual patrons of the church, the archdeacon annexed the advowson to the church of Milverton, then, as now, a prebend of the cathedral church of Wells, perpetually annexed to the archdeaconry of Taunton.d
The conditions of the annexation were as follows : — the incumbent of Thorne was to provide annually for ever in the church of Wells, on the eve of the obit of Master Walter, twenty shillings to be distributed by the hands of the communiarii of the cathedral1 among the canons and clerks of the church who should be present in the choir on his anniversary, and the eve thereof, throughout the celebration of divine service. Besides, the incumbent was to find every quarter forty shillings for the support of a chaplain who should daily in the church of Wells perform the entire office of the dead, with Commendation, Placebo and Dirige, for the soul
a The following descents of this family are deduced from the Harleian Cartulary (fo. 44 b. et seqq.): —
Gerold—
Baldwin, Lord of Thorne.^Sibilla. Gerold, son of Baldwin. Gilbert de Thorne.^Joan.
Baldwin de Thorne, son and heir, alive 1243.
William de Thorne, alive 1273.
'' Sir Juhele de Valk-torte, sheriff of Somerset, was a witness to Baldwin's charter, which is without date. His name, however, does not occur in the list of sheriffs either in Fuller's ^Yorthies or in Collin- son's History of Somersetshire.
c This instrument and the former, it will be oberved, are of even date (St. George's Day 1243), and the same persons are named as attesting witnesses. The two" transactions recorded by the two deeds are pre- sumably therefore " of the same piece," though neither instrument expressly recites the tenor or purport of the other.
11 The perpetual curacy of Thorne St. Margaret still is or very lately was in the gift of the Archdeacon of Taunton.
'• Commnniariits or commttnicarius was an officer in a religious foundation whose duty it was to distribute the commons of money or provision to the members of the body. See Ducange sub vocibus.
Priory and Abbey of Canonslcigh. 423
of the archdeacon, of Bishop Josceline, who gave him his archdeaconry, and of John,8 priest and treasurer of Salisbury, uncle of Master Walter, who educated him, and also for the souls of Walter's father and mother, of all benefactors to the churches of Wells, Milverton, and Thorne, and for the souls of all the faithful departed.
The next document (Appendix No. III.) is an example of the way in which, down to the twelfth century, lay proprietors disposed of the tithe of their land to such churches as they pleased, being a gift to the Church of Morden (East Mor- den, hundred of Loosebarrow, co. Dorset), afterwards appropriated to Canons Leigh, of the whole tithe of the demesnes of the grantor, one Geoffrey de Fortune, " quarum (decimarum) unam partem antiquitus antecessores mei prescripts ecclesioc debito reddiderunt, reliquas vero duas partes aliis ecclesiis contulerunt, et in alios sumptus quandoque pro libito suo libere transtulcrunt." This deed is without date, but is in the form of a letter to the bishop of the diocese, Joscelin, who governed the see of Salisbury from 1142 to 1184. Hutchins mentions an Adam de Porton as holding land in Morden, apparently in 27 Edward I., but notices no other person of the family.
A hundred years after this gift, disputes arose between the monastery, claiming to be appropriators by prescription of 100 years and upwards, the longissima pre- scriptio of the canon law, and one William de Purstone, who asserted that he was entitled to the rectory by provision of Giles formerly bishop of Sarum. The dispute was referred1" to arbitrators, who on the Wednesday next after the feast of St. Vincent, 1272, awarded that the appropriation was good, but that as William had, through ignorance of the facts, been induced to procure for him- self (possibly by paying the bishop a round sum for it) the provision, bad as made during plenarty, the convent should give him an annual pension of forty shillings, until by their means he should be provided with a better living.
The next year the canons took care to obtain from the bishop of Salisbury (Walter de la Wyle) the formal instrument of appropriation of the church of Morden, which is among Lord Portman's documents, and will be found in Appendix No. IV.
Appendix No. V. contains a rather curious composition (taken from the Car- tulary) between Henry prior of Leigh and the convent there with John de Clavile, the lineal descendant of the founder and lord of Burlescombe, as to the guardianship of the temporalities of the priory during a vacancy of the
• John is not among the Treasurers of Salisbury in Hardy's Le Neve. Jordanus is there named as Treasurer in the years 1142 and 1184. b MS. Ilarl. 36CO, fo. 70.
424 Charters and Documents relating to the
headship of the house, which John claimed to have as patron. It was agreed that in future, on the occurrence of a vacancy, John and his heirs should merely appoint a porter, either the existing officer or another of the servants of the house, who should swear on the Gospels to permit no extern* to enter the priory, nor interns to carry away any of the goods of the community, " ad dampnum domus, quominus elemosina dicti Johannis et progenitorum suorum bene et fideliter custodiatur." This arrangement hears date on the feast of St. Simon and St. Jude, 1282, two years hefore the transfer of the establishment to the canonesses.
Before we proceed to the consideration of the instruments relating to the second foundation, I may call your attention to letters apostolic of Pope Innocent IV., addressed to the bishop of Bath and "Wells, desiring him, as diocesan, to give licence to Robert Burnel (Robertus dictus Burnel) to have a private chaplain on his own estate, on account of the distance of the parish church and badness of the roads, if the bishop thought proper. This instrument (in Lord Portraan's pos- session) is dated at Lyons, 3 non. Dec. Anno Pontificatus septimo (Dec. 3, 1250), under the bnlla in lead appended by hempen threads. Robert Burnel, bishop of Bath and Wells, gave the manor of Rockbcave, in the county of Devon, and the advowson of the church there, to the canonesses shortly after their establishment at Leigh, lie died in 1292. This bull was probably obtained by an ancestor of the bishop, and may have come into the possession of the canonesses among the title deeds of the bishop's gift.
It was in 1284, two years after the confirmation of the election of Prior William de llonneton or Roneton," that the second foundation by Matilda de Lacy (widow of Richard de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford) took place. Among Lord Portinan's documents now under notice is a letter dated xvii. kal. Nov. 1284, from Alice, abbess of the Avell-known monastery of Lacock in Wilts, and the convent there, addressed to Peter Lionel', bishop of Exeter. By this letter the abbess and her convent, at the request of the bishop of Exeter and of the countess, whom they style patroness of the church of Leigh, " where the order of St. Austin for females had by Apostolic authority been instituted," signify their consent to the translation to Leigh of three ladies of their convent, namely, Dame Matilda Tablere (who was almost immediately appointed the first abbess1'), Juliana de Bristoll, and dementia de Ovile, (the consent of these ladies and of Walter
a Oliver, Mon. Dioc. Kxon. 224.
'• Oliver, 225. He calls her, from the Exeter Register, de Tablere. She received the benediction of the bishop as abbess on Oct. 28, 1284.
Priory and Abbey at Canonsleigh. 425
Scammel, bishop elect of Salisbury, having been obtained), and they absolve these sisters from their obedience to Lacock."
The countess made several additions to the landed property of the house, the particulars of which will be found in Dr. Oliver's work. Besides these estates the authorities at Rome appear to have insisted on the gift of 600£. and upwards, a very large sum of money at that time, for the endowment of the new foundation. It was not, however, for many a year that the canonesses reaped the benefit of this handsome benefaction.
Prom a law report b we learn that King Edward the First, being in want of funds, probably for his Scottish wars, had borrowed the money, and in 1301 had not paid it back. The letters patent (to be noticed presently) further inform us that the royal borrower, who had received the money " pro urgentissimis negociis suis, et pro utilitate et defensione regni sui," had given what we may call an exchequer bond payable on demand for the amount. The short law report speaks for itself, and I give it here in English, as the law French even of those times, corrupted as it has since been by frequent transcripts by English scribes, is not always quite intelligible to ' lay men.'
" The abbess and convent of Canon Leigh petitioned the King, in the parliament at Lincoln, stating that the King had taken out of the treasury of the cathedral church at Exeter 672/., which money Maud de Glocester, mother of the Earl Gilbert, had ordained for lands to be bought for the sustenance of ladies of the said house, to which thing the said countess was bound by oath by the Pope before she could have favour to found the said house,0 and they prayed that restitution should be made to them (or else they must depart from the house), or that the King should assign to them the manors of Bradewick and Kenton, which had escheated to the King by the death of the Earl of Cornwall. Whereupon it was ordained in parliament that all those of whom the King had taken moneys should apply to the treasurer, and barons, and that they should allow them their debts or (assign them) debts of others, or assign lands in satisfaction, &c. But because the said manors had come de novo to the King, the barons, not knowing the King's pleasure, would not commit these said manors until, &c."
a The seals to this instrument have perished, and it has not been thought necessary to print it in ertenso.
b Memorand. in Scacc. 29 Edw. I. de term. Trin. 43. Dr. Oliver has given the reference, not quite accu- rately, to the Year Book.
" I have been disappointed at finding no papal instrument relative to this transaction in the Vatican Transcripts, now in the British Museum.
VOL. XL. 3 I
426 Charters and Documents relating to the
Dr. Oliver, or rather his learned correspondent Mr. E. Smirke, after quoting this report, says, "whether the ladies ever got the money after all is not very clear." The letters patent, however, of King Edward III., printed in Appendix No. VI. from the original in Lord Portman's possession, show that at all events an arrangement between the convent and the Crown was made in the fifth year of that king's reign. The letters patent, dated October 9th, 5th Ed. III. (1331), recite that King Edward II. in the fourth year of his reign (1311) had granted to the abbess and convent that out of the wardships to come to his hands there should be delivered to them lands, or rents, to the annual value of 100/., to have and to hold until they should have received the whole amount of the debt, the exact sum of which (672J. 5s. 10$d.) is given. Nothing seems to have come of this, for the canonesses again had petitioned the King in council for payment which they had not hitherto received. A fresh arrangement is then made by the patent, which empowers the convent to receive by the hands of the collectors of the customs of the port of Southampton one moiety of the old and new customs of that port (except the customs on wine) yearly, as from the 1st of June then last past (June 1st, 1331), after 1,0007. had been levied thereout for the King's use, until the whole debt should be satisfied.
A petition in parliament of the eighth year of King Edward II. throws a further light on his father's borrowings. It is from the hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, and recites that King Edward I. had caused to be taken out of their treasury at Clerkenwell, by Sir Philip de Wylughby, chancellor of the exchequer, 2.690Z. 11*. 4rf., and afterwards by his writ commanded the barons of the ex- chequer that all those of his realm, both religious and clerks and laymen, from whom money had been taken for his use, in consequence of the search made in abbeys, houses of religion, hospitals, churches, and elsewhere in his realm, should be agreed with in respect of the moneys taken, by sufficient payment or by certain assignment to be made them by way of allowance of debts due from them to the King, or of fines which they might make in the King's court for favours to be procured. The prior and his brethren had exhibited their patents in the ex- chequer, but their debt was still unsatisfied. They therefore prayed payment, which was ordered to be made, by allowance" of debts due to the King.
The dedication of the monastery was slightly altered by the second founder, the name of Saint Etheldred being added to the patrons. This change is first observed in a charter of confirmation of all his ancestor's gifts made by John de Clavile (May 4, 1 Edw. II. 1308), in which he calls the abbey the Church of Saint Mary, Saint John Evangelist, and Saint Etheldred. In the beautiful seal
Priory and Abbey at Canonsleigh. 427
of the new foundation ( figured at the foot of Appendix No. VIII.), probably the gift of the foundress, and engraved under her direction, the sainted queen appears kneeling on one side of the Blessed Virgin, who holds the Divine Infant on her knee, while on the other side is a male kneeling figure representing St. John, who, as in the retable preserved in Westminster Abbey, holds the celestial palm branch which, according to the legend, he bore before the body of Our Lady at her exequies."
The Lord of Burlescombe was not content with giving the ladies the confir- mation charter just mentioned. Ten years afterwards we find him moved, on careful consideration of his ancestor's pious gifts of tithe to the old priory, to make restitution of an annual sum of ten shillings and eight pence of tithe of rents in Morden and elsewhere, which had not been paid for six-and-twenty years. He did not indeed, so far as appears from the charter (Appendix No. VII.), make arrangements for the discharge of the arrears, but he solemnly admitted his obligation to pay for the future, and added a somewhat curious form of distress- namely, that if any quarterly payment of this tithe should be in arrear, it should be lawful for the bailiffs (not of the abbey but) of the Earl of Gloucester, who, as we have seen, was chief lord of the fee, to enter and distrain, &c. at the costs of the covenantor, his heirs and assigns.
Appendix No. VIII. is the formal notarial instrument, recording the pro- cessus electionis of Alice Parker, to be abbess, in the room of Joan Arundel, who died on the 17th of February, 147f .
Although more than one complete form of canonical election is already in print,b the present document would appear to be of sufficient interest for publi- cation, as it gives the names of all the ladies of the convent at the date of the election, and is besides accompanied by a fine impression of the seal just mentioned, which is not noticed by Dr. Oliver. It would be needless to go into any detail as to the forms and ceremonies belonging to an election of this nature, especially as a very excellent explanation of most of the particularities will be found in the Preface to the Monasticon Dioc. Bxon. p. viii. I have, however, subjoined to the transcript in the Appendix a few short notes on points which seemed to require comment.
By this and the documents next following we are enabled to augment, if not
• See Scott's Gleanings from Westminster Abbey, p. 105; article on the Retable, by Mr. Burges. b See particularly, a long form of such a proceeding, on the election of an abbat of lilastonbury, in the MoiwsticoH. article Glastonbury.
3i2
428 Charters and Documents relating to the
to complete, Dr. Oliver's series of abbesses. He was unacquainted with the date of the death of Dame Joan Arundel, which, as just stated, occurred in 147y. The petition of the convent to the founder for licence to proceed to an election in her room is entered, as Dr. Oliver observes, without date at the end of the Harleian Cartulary. From the public instrument which is now under notice, it appears that the founder's licence was dated March 4th, 147T, and that the election took place on the 21st of that month.
Besides recovering in this manner the name of Alice Parker, as that of the immediate successor of Abbess Arundel, we find that Alice Parker herself had ceased to be abbess in 1488, for Lord Portman has the original cong6 d'dlire under the great seal of Henry VII., who then was patron and founder, dated Nov. 27th in the fourth year of his reign, for the election of an abbess in her room.*
It does not appear who was elected on this occasion ; but Lord Portman has another original conge d'ttire, also under the great seal, dated Feb. 12, 14 Hen. VII. (1499), giving permission to the prioress and convent to elect, in the room of Joan Stubbe, the last abbess then deceased. She was probably the immediate successor of Alice Parker, and may very well have lived till the time of Elizabeth Fouliill, who had a long incumbency, as she was already abbess in 1517, and lived to receive a pension of 40/. at the surrender of the house in 1538-9."
The rest of the parcel of deeds which you have submitted to me relate to lands formerly belonging to Canonsleigh, and have but little general interest. They are for the most part, transcribed into the cartulary, an abstract of the principal contents of which Dr. Oliver has given.
Among these documents is a charter of William, son of Gerard de Cliste (Appendix No. IX.) ; it is not in the cartulary, and I have not found that the convent had land in any one of the parishes which take their name from the river Clist, in the valley of which they are situated.
The form of attestation to the charter (undated, but of the latter half of the thirteenth century) of Hugh Peverel, son of Sir Hugh Peverel, of Sanford (Sampford Peverel), granting to the canons lands in Gollimore, near Winesford, is curious.0 It runs thus : — " Hiis testibus : Ex parte mea, Willelmo de Rotho-
• The great seal, as appended to the conge (Te'lire, is figured in Sandford, Genealogical History, p. 456, but it is to be noted that the words of the legend are separated on both sides by colons and roses, not by colons on the obverse and roses on the reverse, as Sandford has represented it.
b Oliver, p. 226.
c The charter will be found at fo. 43 b, MS. Harl. 3660.
Priory and Abbey at Canonsleiyh. 429
mago, Simone filio Rogeri, Ricardo Flaundr', Roberto de Campell et Hundredo meo de Sandford et multis aliis : Ex parte Canonicorum, teste Domino Deo et veritate conventual!."
Among the title-deeds of property in Exeter are several of the thirteenth century, executed before the Mayor of that city, in the Guildhall there. The locality is indicated as being " within the four benches of the hall." The form in the charter (1267) of Roger de Hemery (Appendix No. X.) is as follows : — " Et quia volo quod haec venditio mea firmitatem obtineat perpetuam, inter quatuor scanna Gialde Civitatis Exoniensis prsesenti scripto sigillum meum apposui." Several varieties of the same form will be found in the cartulary (fo. 926, 96, 97, &c.) My acquaintance with English charters, passed in ancient municipalities such as that of Exeter, is too limited to induce me to say that this form is unusual, much less unique. It was, however, previously unknown to me, and it may be interesting to note that it is identical with a form which occurs in Germany, especially in the trading towns of the west, with which Exeter when it was a great port had probably much commercial intercourse."
I may lastly notice the seal of office of the onicial principal of the Bishop of Exeter, under Bishop George Nevile, 1463. It may be described thus : —
Pointed oval, 2TV by If inches in size. Subject : under a tabernacle of per- pendicular work, the effigy of a bishop, holding his pastoral staff in his left hand, and seated behind a table or desk. Below in a niche, an ecclesiastic, with a small desk at his side, whereon his exterior hand rests. Legend
officialis prtnctpalis episropt
• Hafltaus in his Glossarium Germanicum Medii Aevi has the following passage (Article Biincke, p. 92): Zlir birr I3nrnrl;r. Quatuor scamna, in quibus judici assidebant Scabini in judicio solenni. Per metony- men, judicium plenum duodecim fere scabinorum, cujus figuram ita describit Gryphiander in Tractatu de Weichbild Saxonico, c. Ixv. n. 3, " Collocatum erat tribunal in loco editiore pro judice, cui in quatuor scamnis sive bancis quadrato ordine circutnsedebant Scabini.'' .... Vocabantur autem Dir birr ISarnrftr non solum Judicia Provincialia sed etiam majorura civitatum. Haltaus then gives several references to documents where the expression in question in the Latin form is used in reference to local courts at Mechlin, Cologne, and elsewhere. Of these the following is most to our purpose. A Charter (A.D. 1256) of Henry III. Count of Misnia, and Landgrave of Thuringia, to the town of Ahenberg contains this passage: " Quicunque fecerit emendam extra figuram judicii, ita quod digitum non levat [i.e. juramento se astringat] infra quatuor scampna, de emenda pollicita convinci non potest, sed juramento, si voluerit, so purgabit." I am indebted for this reference to Grimm, Deutsche Rechts-Alterthiimer, pp. 212, 810. At the latter page will be found, among much other learning as to the material form of ancient Teutonic Courts, addi- tional instances where the expression '• die vier Banke " is used, as in the statutes of the Hanse town of Bremen, and in Magdeburg records.
430 Charters and Documents relating to the
This interesting seal is appended to letters of admission and institution of John Arundell, clerk to the parish church of Northleigh, co. Devon, (the ad- vowson of which was among the gifts of Maud de Clare to Canonsleigh,) vacant by the death of Robert Udy, Rector, by Henry Webber, Dean of Exeter, and Vicar-General of the bishop in remotis agentis, on the presentation of the abbess and convent. Given at Exeter, Nov. 4, 1463, in the eighth year of the confirmation, and fifth of the consecration, of George Bishop of Exeter : under the seal of office of the official principal of the bishop, " quod (sigillum, viz.) ad manus habemus in hujusmodi officio constitutus."
To these observations, which I fear have extended to a tedious length, I need only add an expression of the thanks to which Miss Portman is entitled, for having been the means of bringing to light a collection of documents well cal- culated to illustrate mediaeval life and manners, and to add some particulars to the history of a monastic foundation of more than ordinary interest.
I am, my dear Sir,
Very faithfully yours,
CHARLES SPENCER PERCEVAL.
Priory and Abbey of Canonsleigh. 431
APPENDIX.
Num. I.
Consensus Decani et Capituli Wellensis pro ecclesia de Saunforde Amndelle approprianda Priori et Canonicis de Leghe.
[Ex autogApho penes Dominum Portman. Reperies apographon in Cod. Harl. 3660, fo. 63 ]
Omnibus ad quos literae praesentes pervenerint, Johannes Decanus et Capitulum Wellense, salutem in domino. Noveritis nos inspexisse cartam et ordinationem dilecti fratris et canonic! nostri magistri Walter! de Sancto Quintino archidiaconi Tanthon super ecclesia de Saunforde, sub hac forma — Universis has literas Jnspccturis vel audituris, magister Walterus de Sancto Quintino archidiaconus Tanthon salutem in domiuo. Xoverit universitas vestra quod cum Prior et Canonici de Leghe ordinis sancti Augustini ex ordinatione domini nostri Joscelini bonae memoriae quondam Bathoniensis episcopi viginti solidos annuatim perceperint in Ecclesia de Saunforde, et ipsos dictorum viginti solidorum Dominus Johannes de Arundelle dominus dicta; villce per magnum tcmpus non sustinuerit ausu proprio [non Cartul.] gaudere, asserens se ipsius ecclesiae patronum, optinuitper curiam domini Regis Walterus (sic) prsenominato domino episcopo praesentari cui custodiaejusdem ad ipsius ut asseritur praesentationem priore predicto et canonicis reclamantibus et contradicentibus fuit commissa. Tandem post inultas altercationes inter ipsos super dicta advocatione tarn in curia domini Regis quam alias habitas, per finalem concordiam dictum placitum per cyrographum factutn coram Rogero de Turkbur," Gileberto de Prestone, Willelmo de Sancto Edraundo, Alano de Sorn,1' apud Ivelcastre in octabis Purificationia beatae Marias, anno regni Regis Henrici filii Regis Johannis vicesimo septimo, Justiciariis Itinerantibus Domini Regis, sic inter eos conquicvit, videlicet quod dictus Johannes recognovit advocationem dicta: ecclesiae de Saunforde cum suis pertinentiis esse jus Prioris et ecclesiae de Leghe, Habendam et tenendam eidem Priori et successoribus suis et ecclesia: de Leghe dictam advocationem cum suis pertinentiis in puram et perpetuam liberam et quietam elemosinam' ab omni secular! exactione et demanda in perpetuum.- Et quia totalis jurisdictio
• Turkeby, Cartvl. » Forn, Cartel.
c The phrase should run " in puram perpetuam et liberam elemosinam quietam," &c. The Cartulary follows the present text. The document seems carelessly drawn. The construction of the second sentence presents more than one difficulty.
432 Charters and Documents relating to the
episcopalis, vacante sede episcopal!, de antiqua consuetudinc, ad quemcumque archidiaconum in suo spectabat archidiaconatu,11 nos auctoritate dicta: jurisdictionis episcopalis, sede tune vacante, ad nos devolutae, considerantes quod dicti prior et canonici tot laboribus et expensis angustiati erant, quod more solito hospitalitatem prout decuit exhibere transeuntibus non valebant, vestigiis dicti
1 This claim of the Archdeacon of Taunton to have the entire episcopal jurisdiction within his arch- deaconry vacante sede Cor in more modern language to have the guardianship of the spiritualities on such occasions) is too remarkable to be passed over in silence.
I have not been in a position to ascertain, as might be done by examination of the Wells registers, whether the jurisdiction really ever belonged " de antiqua consuetudine" to the archdeacon of Taunton or any other archdeacon of that diocese, but I have not found an instance of a similar claim elsewhere. As advanced however in the text the claim must fail from its generality, being for every archdeacon in his own archdeaconry. For, as the following short review of the authorities will show, although the right to the guardianship of the spiritualities in England is involved in some obscurity, yet it lies generally between the dean and chapter and the archbishop only.
" By the Canon Law," says Burn,1 " the Dean and Chapter are the guardians of the spiritualities during the vacancy ; and it hath been allowed, that of common right they are so at this day in England, and that the Archbishop hatli this privilege only by prescription or composition ; and divers Deans do challenge this by ancient charters from the Kings of this realm." Lord Coke, whom Burn cites,2 supports the first of these propositions, and on examining the works of the canonists it is quite clear that the general rule of their law is in favour of the chapter having and exercising the spiritual jurisdiction during the vacancy of the see, although to this there may have been some exceptions in some places.
Lyndwode says,3 " Custodia Spiritualium et Temporalium de Jure Communi pertinet ad Capitulum." (Jus Commune in Lyndwode's sense of course means the general Canon Law.) In support of his proposition he quotes " ])e Major, et Obed. c. quum olim" (Decretal. Greg. ix. lib. i. tit. 33. c. 14) where Gregory IX. (1227 — 1241 ) directs the confirmation of a conventual election to be made sede vacante by the chapter of the cathedral of the diocese ; and " De Maj. et Ob. c. unico, lib. 6," (Sexto Decretal, lib. i. tit. 17) where Boniface VIII. (1294 — 1303) says " Episcopali sede vacante, potest capitulum, seu is ad quern episcopalis jurisdictio tune temporis noscitur pertinere, iis quibus posset episcopus si viveret ab excommunicationis sententia. . . . absolutionis beneficium impertiri, &c." " De consuetudine tamen," continues Lyndwode, " potest pertinere ad alium, sicut notatur et legitur De Offic. Ordi. c. prasenti, lib. 6, (Sexto Decretal, lib. i. tit. 16, c. 9)," which passage however, relates merely to guardianship of temporalities, " et De Elect, c. Statutum, in Clem. (Constit. Clementina) i. 3, 7,)" where Clement V. in the Council of Vienne, (1311) after providing for the preservation to the successor of the profits of spiritual or secular courts during a vacancy, says " Ceterum ad singulares personas, ad quas ratione dignitatis jurisdictio cum ejus emolumento devolvitur sede vacante, de consuetudine, privilegio, vel jure alio special!, volumus praesentetn constitutionem extendi." See Decretal, vi. tit. 8. De supplenda neyliyentia prcelatorum, c. iii. And see all the foreign authorities collected in the Tractatus Universi Juris, torn. xiii. pars 2a, p. 414 verso.
The law on this point seems to have been in an unsettled state in the province of Canterbury in the thirteenth
1 Eccl. Law, Bishops, 225. 2 2 Inst. 15.
* De Immunitate Ecclesice, lib. iii. tit. 28, ' contigit aliquando,' ad verb, custodiain.
Priory and Abbey of Canonsleigh. 433
domini episcopi inhaerere volentes, et eorundem paupertati et utilitati in quantum secundum Deum possimus providere cupientes, ut hospites melius et copiosius possint admittere et exbibere, ad
century, the archbishop and the several chapters each claiming the right. After considerable disputes, the question was settled by Archbishop Boniface so far as regarded certain of his suffragan sees. The agreements made by him with the chapters of those dioceses appear to be the compositions alluded to by Coke. Lyudwood mentions several of these compositions in his Provinciale, lib. v. tit. 15, '• De pcenis " constit. " Tantum incaluit " ad verbum " custodi spiritualitatis" where he says, " Loquitur (Johannes Peckhatn, Archiep. Cant.) secundum consuetudinem Prov incise, secundum quam Archiepiscopus vacante sede deputat custodem spiritualitatis ; vel loquitur secundum compositionem inter Archiepiscopum et Ecclesias Cathedrales initain, prout inter Bonefacium et diversas Ecclesias Cathedrales suss Provinciee varise composi- tiones in ea parte factse sunt, viz., inter Londini, Sarisbur', Lincoln', Norwich', Wigorn', &c., et alias suse Pro- vincise Ecclesias Cathedrales ;" and in lib. ii. tit. 1 , Dejudiciis, const. " In causis" ad verbum " committatur," speaking of the jurisdiction in causes matrimonial of Officials principal and others, he notices, " Officialem quern dat capitulum, vel alius ad quern spectat, sede vacante." The words vel alius, &c., it may be noted in passing, seem to imply that even when Lyndwode wrote the jurisdiction was not quite clear, or at least that the law or practice was not uniform as to the authority by whom the official was to be appointed.
The composition between Archbishop Boniface and the Chapter of London dated August 21, 12C2, is printed in Wharton, De Episcopis Londinensilvs, page 255, * and seems to be much of the same character as the rest. From the recitals it appears that the dispute had run very high, and had been carried to Rome. The agreement (which Newcourt says is still adhered to) was, that on the occurrence of a vacancy in the see of London, the chapter should present to the archbishop two or three of their canons, or one minor canon with one or two major canons, of whom the archbishop was to choose one to be the official, and to have institutions and collations and exercise other jurisdiction, by the authority of the archbishop, who however was not to interfere with him in the execution of his office.
The composition between Archbishop Boniface and the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln, between whom there had been long litigation on the subject in the Roman Court, is printed in Wilkins's Concilia, i. 75C. It is dated 1261. The Chapter are to present three or four of the canons, of whom the Archbishop is to appoint one as Official to exercise the episcopal jurisdiction, except in the city of Lincoln and the cathedral, where the Dean himself is to have it.
The see of Salisbury was vacant in 1272, and it appears from an instrument relating to the appropriation of the church of Morden to Canonsieigh, that at that time the jurisdiction was exercised by an Official constituted by the Archbishop of Canterbury. The passage proving this runs " provision! . . . Magistri Constantini de Mildenhall officialis Saresbur' sede vacante ii Domino Cantuar' Archiepiscopo tocius Anglie primate constituti.2"
Battely (App to Suppl. Hist. Cant. No. iv. b. c.), quoting a MS. treatise in the Archives of Christ Church, Canterbury, consisting mainly of extracts from the registers, says, " in omnibus aliis diocesibtis (which, from the context looks as if Rochester alone was excepted) totius Provinciaj Cantuarise, sede vacante, omnis jurisdictio et potestas ordinaria ad Archiepiscopum Cant, totaliter est devoluta et translata, et ipse archie- piscopus de officiis et miuistris aliis ordinabit ibidem pro exercitio jurisdictiouis, et durante vacations archicpiscopus omnes proventus habubit."
1 A summary of it is given by Newcourt, Itepertorivm, i. 35. It will also be found at full length in Wilkins's Concilia, i. 758. a Harl. MS. 3660, fo. 70.
VOL. XL. 3 K
434 Charters and Documents relating to the
augmentandum eorundem elemosinam et ampliandum domus caritatem, statuimus et ordinamus quod in praedictorum Prioris et Canonicorum proprios usus praedicta ecclesia convertatur ; Salvo hoc, quod omnia ipsius ecclesioe onera ordinaria debita et consueta sustinoant et pcrsolvant, et quod dicta: ecclesise per capellanum et clericum ydoneum faciant deservire. Et quia juri archidiaconali
But the case of Rochester is peculiar : for there the Archbishop of Canterbury, as is well known, was patron ; and, on a vacancy, had the custody of the temporalities, and gave restitution of them, receiving the homage of the newly appointed bishop.1
I am informed that at the present day, in some cases (apparently those above-mentioned where Boniface's compositions exist), the dean and chapter nominate three persons, of whom the Archbishop of Canterbury, through his vicar-general, appoints one as commissary, while in other cases the vicar-general assumes the guardianship which he exercises through surrogates appointed by himself. In the case of the see of London, I learn that the canon who happens to be in residence at the time of the occurrence of the vacancy is always selected to exercise the jurisdiction.
The common lawyers from an early date appear to have been in doubt as to the rights of the matter.
The Lincoln composition was pleaded before the Court of Common Pleas in Easter Term 17 Edward III. (1344)- in a quart non admisit brought by the King against the Archbishop of Canterbury as guardian of the spiritualities of the bishopric of Lincoln vacante stde, for not admitting the King's presentee. The archbishop's counsel Pult[on?] pleaded in abatement to the writ, that by composition between the dean and chapter and the predecessor of the archbishop, it was ordained that in time of voidance, &c., the dean and chapter should choose three of the chapter and present them to the archbishop as metropolitan and superior, and the archbishop should choose one of the three, who during the vacancy should do what appertains to an ordinary, and should have institution and induction (i.e. the right to institute, &c., as ordinary): — that, in the present case the dean and chapter chose A. B. and C. and presented them to the archbishop, who selected one, B, wiio entered on and exercised the office ; and so the archbishop was not guardian, but merely superior as metropolitan, so that the writ did not lie against him.
For the Crown, Thorpe replied that by common right the archbishop was guardian during a vacancy, and besides that the person selected to exercise the jurisdiction acted in fact as the official of the archbishop by whom he was chosen, and by his commission; and that he answered to the archbishop for the issues and profits of his office, so that indeed the archbishop was chief guardian and the minister of the King for the King; and that no composition between the archbishop and the chapter could discharge the former as against the King. Upon this, Pole for the defendant rejoined by a traverse of the archbishop's right at common law, for, said he, " by common right and law the dean and chapter are the guardians unless this be modified by prescription or composition." Moreover, that it did not fall within the province of the King's Court to inquire who was guardian, but that the writ should be addressed to the guardian in general terms, and not to the holder of the office by name.
Thorpe explained himself to mean by "common right" that it was usual, and in fact universal, in the realm that the archbishop should be guardian.
After some further argument, Stouford gave judgment. He said that the jurisdiction was one which had always existed, and that in his opinion it had its commencement by licence of the King : winding up with the rather questionable dictum, that in the time of Ilichard I. (the time of legal memory) and ever before,
1 See Battely, pt. ii. 62. * Year Book, 17 Edw. III. Pasch. No. 9, fo. 23.
Priory and Abbey of Canonsleiylc. 435
per dictam appropriationem ratione sequestri et aliis ex causis posset derogari in posterum in aliquem eventum ; volumus et statuiinus in recompensationem dictae lesionis quod in perpetuum
the archbishops were guardians, until in King Henry the Third's time, for default of good guardianship, &c., the composition was made ut supra : " and we do not consider that a composition made between the parties since the time of memory can discharge the archbishop as against the King." The matter ended here, as the see of Lincoln was shortly afterwards filled up, and the King sued the new bishop.
This case was cited by Coke in the argument in Grange v. Denny, Bulstrode, part 3, 174, and indeed it is this case which was in his mind when stating the law in 2 Institute 15, already cited. Coke, however, rather stretches the case to prove, what it does not, that of common right the dean and chapter are guardians of the spiritualties ; but he adds, " but now the archbishops have used to have this by way of composition, as great lords will incroaoh all into their own hands." Dodderidge, J., continuing the discussion in Grange v. Denny, remarked, as to an archbishop, that vacante sede of a bishop within his province he himself is guardian of the spiritualties ; sed sede vacante of his own diocese, the dean and chapter of this is guardian of the spiritualties. Lord Coke answers to this — " This did commence by way of composition, but originally it was not so, but the dean and chapter was guardian of the spiritualties." Dodderidge : " It doth not appear to be so by our books, no mention being made of any such composition, but the guardian of the spiritualties to be according to the difference before put between a province and a diocese."
In Broke's Abridgment is the following memorandum (Administrators et Administration, ca. 4C): — " Nota per omnes legis peritos, et per ceux del arches (the advocates of the Arches Court), quod tempore vacationis d'un Archevesque ou d'un Evesque, le Deane et le Chapter committra 1'administration ;" that is to say, that the right of the ordinary to grant administration of the goods of defunct persons within his jurisdiction is to be exercised sede vacante by the dean and chapter.
Cowell (Law Dictionary, sub voce Gustos) says : — " The appointment of custos spiritualitatis or spirit it- alium by the canon law appertains to the dean and chapter; but at present with us in England to the archbishop of the province by prescription. Howbeit divers deans and chapters (if Glover says truly in tin- preface to his Readings,) do challenge this by ancient charters from the kings of this land."
Ayliffe, Parergon, 125, puts the matter rather differently. He says — " Of common right the dean and chapter are guardians of the spiritualties during the vacancy of a bishopric (citing Decretal, lib. v. 7, 9, or rather the gloss on that text): but the usage of England is, that the archbishop is the guardian of the spiritualties during such vacancy as to matters of jurisdiction, &c." And he refers to the case of the Dean and Chapter of Durham v. Archbishop of York, 1 Ventr. 225, the report of which case is shortly as follows.
In a prohibition the archbishop pleaded a prescription that he and his predecessors have time out of mind been guardians of the spiritualties of the bishopric of Durham sede vacante; and issue was joined thereupon, and tried at the bar this term. (Michs. 24 Chas. II.) Hall said: — "de jure communi, the dean and chapter were guardians of the spiritualties during the vacancy as to matters of jurisdiction, &c. but the usage here in England is that the archbishop is guardian of the spiritualties in the suffragan diocese." There was much evidence given that anciently during the vacancy of Durham the archbishop had exercised jurisdiction, both contentious and other, as guardian of the spiritualties; but since Henry VIII. 's time it had been for the most part administered by the dean and chapter: and the verdict -was here for the dean and chapter.
The curiosity of the question, and the absence of clear information in the text books, may, it is hoped, bt- pleaded as an excuse for the great length of this note. In countries where the decrees of the Council of Trent
3 K2
436 Charters and Documents relating to the
archidiacono Tanthon et successoribus suis de dicta ecclesia synodalia dupplicentur, et dupplicata una cum procuratione nobis et successoribus nostris debita eisdem in perpetuum reddantur. Imitan- tes in hoc factum dicti domini Joscelini quondam Bathoniensis episcopi qui in ccclcsiis quas de novo viris religiosis appropriavit predicta fieri statuit et ordinavit. In cujus rei testimonium praesentem cartam sigilli nostri impressione roboravimus. Hiis testibus, Magistro Roberto de Sancto Quintino canonico beatae Mariae Beluacensis, Domino Henrico de Ivelcestre vicario de Chywtone, Petro vicario de Milvertone, Roberto capellano de Langeforde, Willelrao de Russham, Ricardo de Sancto Albano clerico, Baldewino domino de Thome, et multis aliis. Datum apud Leghe anno Incarnationis Domini millesimo ducentesimo quadragesimo tercio, mense Aprili, die sancti Georgii martyris. — Nos autem praedictam ordinationem praedictl magistri Walter! de Sancto Quintino archidiaconi Tanthon ratam habentes et gratam, eidem nostrum adhibemus assensum, et hoc prassenti scripto nostro protcstamur. In cujus rei testimonium eidem sigilla nostra apponi fecimus. Datum Wett decimo sexto Kt. Julii, anno Domini millesimo ducentesimo quadragesimo tercio.
Two labels for seals. First seal lost. Second seal pointed oval ; 3 by 2 inches in size. Subject ; a full length (archi)episcopal effigy, holding in his left hand a cross-staff with vexilluvn appendant. Right hand in benediction. On either side a small object (a dragon or perhaps a flower). Feet resting on a (prostrate figure?) Legend, in Lombardic character, SIGILLUM : ECCLESIE : BEATI : AXDREE : DE : WE[LLES]. Counterseal, pointed oval ; 2-J-u- by If. Subject : between three countersunk quaterfoils, St. Andrew on his cross. Above, on dexter the sun, sinister the moon. In base, between lower limbs of the saltire, a demi-figure in adoration. Legend, in Lombardic character, VIKTUTEM SANCTE CRUCIS AGNOUI.
Num. II.
Carta de annexalione advocationis ecclesice de Thome Sanctce Margarets ecclesia de Milcerton, una cum fundatione cantaria in ecclesia Wellensi.
[Ex autographo penes eundem. Vide Cod. Harl. 3C60, fo. 48.]
Omnibus Christ! fidelibus ad quos praescns scriptum pervenerit, frater Henricus prior de Leghe et ejusdem loci canonici, salutem in domino. Noverit universitas vestra quod cum simus vicini viri venerabilis magistri Walteri de Sancto Quintino archidiaconi Tanthon, et ipse a nobis gratiam
are accepted, the matter is definitively settled. See Cone. 'Trident. Sess. xxiv. " de Reformatione," cap. 16. " Capitulum sede vacante .... officialem seu vicarium infra octo dies post mortem episcopi con- stituere tenetur."
It should be observed that in the appropriation of Sampford the dean and chapter were consenting parties (as, indeed, by the canon law they must have been, see Decretal, lib. iii. 10, 8, de hits qui fivnt a prcelato sint assensu capituli), and so may not have been interested in disputing Archdeacon Walter's law in that case; yet the general claim was adverse to them.
Priory and Abbey of Canonsleigh. 437
specialem el magnam optinere meruit, cum in multis urgentissimis arduis et necessariis negotiis nobis et ecclesiae nostrae profuerit habundanter, et domus nostrse paupertatem in pluribus sui gratia valde liberaliter et gratanter relevaverit : nolentes vicium ingratitudinis incurrere, set pocius grata vicissitudine eidem respondere pro posse nostro, licet non a pari hoc facere possimus; habito pru- dentiura virorum consilio, de communi et unanimi assensu omnium nostrorum maxima et diutina super hoc praehabita deliberatione, praedicto magistro Waltero archidiacono duas acras terrae de la Wudehulle cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, quae jacent inter terram quae fuit Symonis de Lukcumbe et terram qua; fuit Sampsonis de Raddune, una cum advocatione ecclesise beatae Margaretae de Thorne, et suis assignatis seu attornatis religiosis et aliis, prsedictis rationibus et aliis quampluribus moti, concedimus et donamus, pure, sponte et absolute, absque aliquo retinemento in perpetuum, cum eadem libertate et collatione et pociori si possimus quam habemus a Baldewino de Thorne quondam ejusdem ecclesiae advocate. Et omnia praedicta cum omnibus suis pertinenciis eidem archidiacono et successoribus siue assignatis suis in perpetuum contra omnes homines plene wa- rentizabimus. Cartam vero dicti patroni per quam nobis dictam terram cum advocatione ecclesiae contulit dictus Baldewinus in haec verba inseri fecimus: — Omnibus Christifidelibusad quos prasens scriptum pervenerit, Baldewinus dominus de Thorne, salutem in Domino. Noverit universita? vestra me divinae pietatis intuitu, necnon et pro salute animas meae et omnium antecessorum et suc- cessorum meorurn, pro me et heredibus meis dedisse, concessissc, et hac praesenti carta mea con- firmasse in puram et perpetuam elemosinam, et omnino liberam et quietam in perpetuum, Deo et ecclesiae beatae Mariae et Sancti Johannis evangelistae de Leghe in Devonia et canonicis ibidem deo servientibus duas acras terras de la Wudehulle cum omnibus pertinentiis suis que jacent inter terrain quae fuit Symonis de Lukcumbe, et terram quae fuit Sampsonis de Raddune, una cum advocatione ecclesiae beatae Margaretae de Thorne; Habendas et tenendas pratdictis ecclesiae et canonicis tie Leghe praedictas duas acras terrae et praedictae ecclesiaa advocationem, cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, libere, quiete, integre et pacifice in perpetuum, ut praedictum est, absque omni contradictione et calumpnia mei vel heredum meorum in perpetuum. Ita quod nee ego nee aliquis heredum meorum, nee aliquis pro me, nee aliquis pro illis, poterimus in praedictis duabus acris et advocatione dicta; ecclesiae vel pertinentiis suis aliquid juris vel clamii vendicare. Licebit etiam eisdein priori et canonicis prsedictas duas acras cum prsodicta; ecclesiae advocatione et suis pertinentiis quan- documque et cuicunque voluerint sine omni contradictione vel molestia a me vel heredibus mei? assignare. Et ego Baldewinus et heredes mei tenemur warentizare in perpetuum praedictis ecclesiae et canonicis de Leghe, vel eorum attornatis vel assignatis, dictas duas acras cum advocatione dicta; ecclesiae cum omnibus pertinentiis suis contra omnes homines. Et ut hsec mea donatio, concessio, et praesentis cartae meae confirmatio ratae sint et stabiles in perpetuum, praesentem cartum sigilli mei inpressione roboravi. Hiis testibus: Domino Johele de Valletorte tune vicecomite Sumersete, Henrico de Chaunflur, Magistro Ilenrico persona ecclesiae de Stauntone, Domino Thoma de Tetce- burne, Symone de Lukcumbe, Johanne de Arundelle, Roberto de Wilecestre, Willelmo de Ore- weye, Nicholao de Hallehey, et multis aliis." — Quam quidem terram cum advocatione dictae ecclesia?
* In the Cartulary, the word " clerico " is inserted after the name of Henry de Champflour. A person of these names was sheriff of Somerset 1286.
438 Charters and Documents relating to the
et omnibus pertinentiis suis tarn de consensu dicti Baldewini quondam advocati cjusdem ecclesiae quam nostro communi et unanimi asscnsu omnium nostrorum dedit et concessit dictus archidiaconus ecclesiae de Milvertone in perpetuum, quae est praebenda ecclesiae Wellensis dicto archidiaconatui Tanthon in perpetuum annexa. Ita quod quicumque qui pro tempore in posterum tenuerit sive habuerit dictam ecclesiam de Milvertone cum praedicta terra et ecclesia de Thome inveniat an- nuatim in perpetuum apud Welt in vigilia obitus dicti magistri Walter! de Sancto Quintino archi- diaconi Tanthon viginti solidos, distribuendos per manus communariorum inter canonicos et clericos ecclesiae Wellensis qui die anniversarii sui et in vigilia in choro interfuerint sollempni celebration! dicti anniversarii ejusdem usque ad plenam dicti servicii consummationem. Item et quod pncter haec inveniat annuatim in perpetuum in quatuor anni terminis, videlicet in festo Sancti Michaelis, Natalis Domini, Paschae, Nativitatis Sancti Johannis Baptistae, aequis portionibus, quadraginta solidos ad sustentationem unius capellani qui singulis diebus per annum faciet in ccclcsia Wellensi plena? servitium defunctorum, cum Commendatione, Placebo et Dirige, pro anima dicti Walter! de Sancto Quintino et Joscelini bonac memoriae quondam Bathoniensis episcopi, qui dicto Waltero dictum archidiaconatum contulit, et Johannis presbiteri et thesaurarii Sares- biriensis avunculi dicti Walteri qui ipsum educavit, et patris et matris ejusdem Walteri specialiter, et pro animabus omnium benefiictorum ecclesiae Wellensis de Milvertone et Thome, et pro anima- bus omnium iidelium defunctorum, liberandos capellano et ejusdem ecclesiae vicario qui dictum servitium fecerit, per manum communiarii Wellensis qui pro tempore fuerit. Qui capellanus in festo Sancti Michaelis ammovebitur per archidiaconum Tanthon qui pro tempore fuerit, et per cundcm alms de anno in annum loco ejusdem substituetur in perpetuum. Quod si in ammovitione («'c) vel in substitutione praedicta negligens fuerit, vel remissus, vel minus ydoneum substituerit ar- chidiaconus memoratus per negligentiam suam, eo anno ipsius ammotio ct substitutio ad capitulum Wellense pertineat. Et si forte capellanus ad dictum servitium assignatus impedimento quoeumque detentus, dictum servitium aliquo die vel tempore facere non poterit, vel voluerit, vel non fecerit, alius loco suo ydoneus illud faciat, et emolumentum tanti temporis per quod illud facerit plene pcrcipiat. Ita quod alterius impedimento cessante, ille ut prius usque terminum suuin illud per- ficiat. Quod si forte episcopus vel archidiaconus Tanthon, vel alius qui dictam ecclesiam de Mil- vertone habuerit vel tenuerit, collationem praedictam, modum et formam ratum habere vel stare nolucrit, vel ipsam non observaverint, vel ipsius observationem perturbaverint, quominus in forma praedicta stare nequierit, vel non steterit, extunc irrita sit et nulla penitus per omnia collatio et assignatio pracdictae, et sub pracdictis modo et forma et tenore in omnibus devolvatur ad capitulum Wellense. Ita quod capitulum Wellense habeat et teneat omnia prsedicta in usus communae suae in perpetuum, et fieri faciat dicta servitia sub eisdem modo et forma in omnibus et per omnia, ut praBdictum est. Quod si forte capitulum Wellense praedicta per omnia lacere noluerit, vel non fecerit, extunc irrita et penitus nulla habeatur collatio et assignatio praedicta facta capitulo Wellensi, et devolvatur absolute ad Prioratum de Leghe; Ita quod in ecclesia sua de Leghe fieri faciant dicta servitia annuatim in perpetuum sub modo et forma praedicta, non per canoni- cum set per capellanum secularem, quern in domo sua ad hoc tencant de anno in annum per visum archi[diaconi] Tanthon qui pro tempore fuerit, et ad hoc faciendum per subtractionem bcneficiorum quae habet Prioratus de Leghe in archidiaconatu Tanthon compellat archidiaconus
Priory and Abbey of Canonsleigh.
439
Tanthon saepedictus. In cujus rei robur, approbationem , confirmationcm et tcstimonium, praesenti cartse tarn ego fratcr Henricus Prior de Leghe, et ejusdem loci canonici, quam dictus Baldewinus et Walterus archidiaconus memoratus sigilla nostra apposuimus. Hiis testibus, Magistro Roberto de Sancto Quintino canonico ecclesise beatae Mariae Beluacensis, Domino Henrico vicario de Chiwe- tone, Petro vicario de Milvertone, Roberto de Langeforde capellano, Willelmo de Russham, Ri- cardo de Sancto Albano clerico, Baldewino de Thome, et aliis. Datum apud Leghe anno Incar- nationis Domini millessimo ducentesimo quadragesimo tercio, mense Aprili, die Sancti Georgii.
The first seal is that of the Prior of Legh, with the eagle of St. John for the device. The second seal is that of the priory, as described in Mon. Dioc. Ex. p. 224. The third seal is that of the Archdeacon: The legend NOTioiA DIGNO WALTERI CREDITK SIGNO. The counterseal is a small antique gem representing a female head in profile.
Num. III. Carta Galfridi de Pourtuna super dccimas de Mordone.
[Ex autographo penes eundem.]
Venerabili Domino et patri suo, Gocit Salesbericnsi episcopo," Gaufr de Pourtuna salutem. No- vcrit illustrissima sanctitas vestra me concessisse et donasse ccclcsiae Sancte Marise de Morduna
11 Probably Josceline, Bishop of Salisbury, 114-2-1184.
•140 Charters and Documents relating to the
omnes decimas dominii mei de Mordun, quarum unam partem antiquitus antccessores mei prse- scriptae ecclcsiae debito reddiderunt, reliquas vero duas partes aliis ecclcsiis contulcrunt, et in alios sumptus quandoque pro libito suo libere transtulerunt. Et ut eas deinceps totas plenarie possideat pnenominata ecclcsia, et ut munis calumpnia annicbiletur, omnis controversia frustrctur, propria in manu in conspcctu ecclesiae praefatas decimas super altare praescriptae ecclesiae reddidi et hanc donationcm carte mese astipulatione confirmavi, ct sigilli impressione roboravi. Hiis testibus, Osberto capellano, Willelmo clerico, Waltero militis filio, Alvieto, Falcone, Seleuro, Tramudo pres- bytero, et Ailmaro filio ejus, Norinan, et aliis quampluribus parrochianis qui huic donatione inter- fuerunt.
Endorsed. Mordon de dono decimarum. (This instrument is not in the Harleian Cartulary.) Seal. Circular. Nearly 2 inches in diameter. Device : an equestrian effigy to the sinister in long hauberk of chain mail, high peaked cap of mail, sword in right, and club-like object, probably a shield much in profile, in right hand. Legend : + SIGILL[VM GAVFK]IDI DE POVRTV[NE].
Num. IV.
Appropriatio ecclesia de Mordone facto, canonicis de Leghe per Waltcrum de la
Wyle Episcopum Salisburiensem.
[Ex autographo penes eundem. Vide Cod. Harl. 3660, fo. 70].
Universis sanctae matris ecclesiae filiis presentes literas visuris et audituris, Walterus dei gratia cpiscopus Sarr, salutem in domino sempiternam. Quia nobis legitime constitit quod religiosi viri Prior ct Conventus de Leghe Canonicorum Exoniensis diocesis ecclesiam de Mordone in Dorsettia nostrae diocesis multo tempore transacto canonice adepti sunt in suos proprios usus perpetuo possi- ilendam, ac ipsam eeclesiam salva vicaria ejusdem legitime praescripserunt per pacificam longi tcmporis possessionern — Xos pracdictorum religiosorum securitati super eadem ecclesia providere volentes, dei intuitu et ad instantiam venerabilis patris domini Johannis dei gratia Wintoniensis episcopi, pncdictam ecclesiam de Mordone cum omnibus juribus et pertinenciis suis, salva compe- tent! porcione vicariae ejusdem ecclesiae, praedictis priori et conventui ac eorum successoribus perpetuis temporibus in usus proprios canonicorum loci praedicti de Leghe possidendam de venera- biliuin virorum decani et capituli ecclesiae nostrae Salesbir consensu concedimus et confirmamus. In quorum tc?timonium sigillum nostrum et sigillum praedictorum decani et capituli prcsentibus literis patentibus sunt appensa. Dat Sarr in crastino Cinerum, Anno ab Incarnatione Domini M°ducentesimo sexagesimo tercio.
Seals. 1. Pointed oval. 3 by 1 finches in size. Subject: full length episcopal effigy in bene- diction, standing on a corbel, maniple to the pastoral staff. Legend, in Lombardic character, [WAL]TERUS n'i GKA. SALESBIRIENSIS Eri8cop[vs].
2. Pointed oval. 3 by 2 inches. Subject : seated on a throne under a trefoiled early-English
Priory and Abbey of Canonslciyh. 441
arch, the Blessed Virgin wearing a low crown: in her right hand a sceptre held bend wise: sitting on her knee the Divine Infant. Legend, in Lombardic character, + SIGILL [SANC]TE MARIE [SAu]E8[Bii:iEN8]lS ECCL'lE. Engraved in Hoare, Modern Wilts, vol. i. Salisbury Seals, PL i. No. 1.
Num. V.
Compositio inter Henricum Priorem de Leghe et Johannem de Cktvilla de custodia,
Domm de Leghe vacante Prioratu.
[Cod. Harl. 36GO, fo. 25 b.]
Notum sit omnibus quod cum inter Henricum Priorem et canonicos de Leghe Exoniensis diocesis ex parte una et Johannem de Clavilla Dominum de Burlescumbc ex altera parte super custodia prioratus de Leghe tcmpore vacationis ipsius, quam custodiam idem Johannes clamat ad se pertinere tanquam ad patronum ejusdem prioratus, orta esset materia contencionis ; tandem commu- nibus arnicis intervenientibus sopita est finaliter dicta contentio in hunc modum: — videlicet quod quotienscunque vacabit Prioratus predictus, idem Johannes et heredes sui eligent janitorem qui prius fuerat in eodem prioratu vel quemcunque alium servientem dicti prioratus pro voluntate dicti Johannis et heredum suorum, et personam per eos sic electam jurare faciant super sancta Evangelia quod durante dicta vacatione portam domus predictoe fideliter custodiat; Ita quod non permittet aliquos exteriores Prioratum pracdictum intrare, vel intcriores aliquid de bonis domus asportare ad dampnum domus, quominus elemosina dicti Johannis heredum et progenitorum suorum bene et fideliter custodiatur. Conccssit insuper dictus Johannes pro se et heredibus suis quod ratione vacationis predictae domus quandocumquc vacaverit, nihil sive de bonis dictae domus appropriare vel quicquam aliud ratione patronatus in ea vendicare possint imperpetuum quam id quod superius est expressum. In cujus rei testimonium presenti scripto duplicato supradictaa partes hinc inde sigilla sua apposuerunt. Da? in festo Apostolorum Simonis ct Judae Anno Domini M°CC°lxxx0 secundo Anno R. R. Edwardi decimo; Presentibus, Magistro Waltero de Lecche- lade Precentore Exoniensi et Domini Petri Exoniensis Episcopi tune Vicario, Nicholao Silvayn, Simone Rectore Ecclesiaj de Bagewrthc, Henrico de Berneville, Willelmo fratre suo, Willelmo Lampreic, Waltero de Claville et aliis.
Num. VI.
Littercc Patentee Regis Edwardi Tertii, de pecunia Canonicarum de Leghe
mutuata.
[Ex autographo penes Dominum Portmaii ]
Edwardus Dei gratia rex Angliaj, dominus Hiberniae et Dux Aquitania;, omnibus ad quos presentes litters; pervenerint salutem. Sciatis quod cum dominus E. quondam rex Angliae, avus VOL. XL. 3 L
442 Charters and Documents relating to the
noster, pro urgentissimis ncgociis suis, et pro utilitato et defcnsione tocius rcgni sui, recepisset dc abbatissa et monialibus de Canounlcglie per manus tune thesaurarii et camerariornm ejusdem avi nostri dc scaccario suo sexcentas scxaginta et duodecim libras quinque solidos decem denarios et unuiH obolum, per visum et testimonium David de Seryngtone clerici ejusdem abbatissse, idemque avus noster sextodecimo die Septembris anno regni sui vicesimo secundo per litteras suas patentes sigillo scaccarii sui signatas promisisset praefatis abbatissae et monialibu's de predicta pecunue summa satisfieri facere cum ab ipsis super hoc esset requisitus, ac dominus E. nuper rex Angliae, pater noster, vicesimo die Marcii anno regni sui quarto, per litteras suas patentes, magno sigillo suo signatas, concessisset cisdem abbatissae et monialibus quod de custodiis quas ad manus suas contingeret devenirc liberarentur pncfatis abbatissae et monialibus centum libratae terra; seu redditus per annum per rationabilem extentam inde faciendam, tenend et habend quousque indc ad plenum levassent et habuissent sexcentas sexaginta et duodecim libras quinque solidos decem denarios et unum obolum supradictos, prout in litteris dictorum avi et patris nostrorum pncdictis per pnedictas abbatissam et moniales nobis in cancellariam nostram restitutis plenius continetur, De qua quidem pecuniae summa predicts; abbatissa et moniales solucionem seu alias satisfactionem hactenus ut asscrnnt assequi non potuerunt, per quod nobis per petitionem suam coram nobis et consilio nostro exhibitam, supplicarunt ut eis inde solutionem seu alias satisfactionem fieri jubere velimus competentem — Xos volentes prtefatis abbatissae et monialibus dc praedicta pecunix summa satisfieri, ut cst justum, concessimus eisdem abbatissae et monialibus, quod ipsi (sic) singulis annis a primo die Junii proximo prajterito computandis postquam millc librae tam de antiqtia quam nova custumis in portu villa} nostrae Sutbamptone ad opus nostrum levatse fuerint, medietatem tocius residui earundem custumarum, custuma vinorum dumtaxat excepta, percipiant et habeant per manus collectorum nostrorum custumarum earundem qui pro tempore fuerint, quousque pradietae abbatissa et moniales dictos sexcentas scxaginta et duodecim libras quinque solidos decem denarios et unum obolum receperint de medietate supradicta. In cujus rei testimonium lias litteras nostras fieri fccimus patentes. Teste meipso apud Westmonasterium, xv. die Octobris, anno regni nostri quinto. Per ipsum Kegem.
[A fragment of the great seal (B of Professor Willis) remains in white wax.]
Num. VII.
i
Carta Johannis de Clamle super decimas de Mordene et Breicere.
[Ex autographo penes eundern. Vide Cod. Harl. 3660, fo. 26.]
Pateat universis per prcscntcs quod cum ego Johannes de Clavilla diversas cartas Walteri de Clavilla antecessoris mci et aliorum antecessorum meorum inspexerim continentes quod ipsi ante- cessores pro salute sua et salute antecessorum suorum ct successorum suorum dederint et conces- serint Ecclesiae Dei et Sanctae ilariac Sanctique Johannis Ewangelistae de Leghe totam decimam
Priory and Abbey of Canonsle/i///. 443
reddituum diversarum terraruin suarum ab ipsis ct heredibus suis prefatse ecclesia; reddendam; ego dictus Johannes successor dicti Walter! et hereditario jure tenens predictarum terraruin, decem solidos et octo denarios de decimis quorurndam reddituum predictorum per viginti et sex annos in festo Sancti Michaclis proximo ante diem confectionis presenciurn annuatim a retro existere fateor per presentcs. Et ad animse meac ct antecessorum meorum et successorum meorum periculum magis evitandum volo et concede quod ego dictus Johannes heredes et assignati mei dictos decem solidos et octo denarios per tempus predictum subtractos ecclesia? predicts; et Religiosis Dominabus Abbatisse et Conventui ibidem Deo serventibus et successoribus suis in puram et perpetuam elemosinam de cetero annuatim ad quatuor anni terminos principales equis porcionibus persolvere teneamur impcrpetuum; videlicet, de decinia quorumdam reddituum de Mordone octo solidos; et de decima Brewer ibidem duos solidos et octo denarios. Insuper volo et concede pro me et heredi- bus et assignatis meis quod si in solucione decem solidorum et octo denariorum predictorum in toto vel in parte suis terminis defecerimus(quod absit) quod ballivi domini Comitis Glouccstriae qui pro tempore f'uerint sumptibus nostris nos per nostras dictas terras distringant et districtioncs teneant quousquc predictis Dominabus Abbatissae et Conventui ut de jure Ecclcsiaj predictae plenaric fuerit satisfactum. In cujus rei testimonium prescntibus sigillum meum npposui. Dat apud I-egh Canonicarum undecimo die Mail anno Domini M°ccc°xj° et regni R. Edward! fil. R. Edwardi iiij".
Seal. Circular ^ inch in diameter. Device, a key in pale. Legend, in Lombardic character, SI. IOHISDECLAVILLE.
Num. VIII. Processus clectlonis Domino; Alicia; Parker in Abbatissam Monasterii de Ley a.
f_Ex autogr. penes eundem.]
Revcrendo in Christo patri ct domino Domino Johanni Dei gratia Exoniensi episcopo, ipsiusve vicario in spiritualibus general!, coinmissario ejusve locum in hac parte tenenti cuicumque, suaj humiles et devotie in Ghristo filioe Cristina Edwyke pi-iorissa claustralis" inonasterii hcatae Mario; Virginia Sanctique Johannis Evangelists dc Canonleghe ordinis sancti Augustini Exoniensis dioceseos et cjusdcm loci conventus, obcdientiam et reverenciam tanto patri debitiis cum honore. Reverend* vostraj paternitati ac omnibus quorum interest vcl intcrerit in hac partc quomodolibet in futurum notum facimus per prsesentes quod praefato monasterio nostro nuper vacante atque abbatissaj et pastricis solacio dcstituto, per mortem bouse inemoria; Johanna!
,11. ... .. . ... Death of the last
Arundelle ultima! abbatissaj dicti monasterii, qua; (prout placuit Deo) die dominion, abi>«u, Keb. 17.
videlicet decimo septimo die niensis Februarii anno Domini millesimo quadringcn-
tesimo septuagcsimo diem suum clausit extremum, ac die Jovis proximo extunc sequent!, videlicet
• A conventual prior is one who is himself the head of the house; a claustral prior, one who hus an abbat over him; v. Lyndw. ad Coustit. De scrutinio in online, &c. c. cumquaiittt, v. prior.
3L 2
444 Charters and Documents relating to the
vicesimo primo die cjusdem mensis Februarii ipsius corpore prout decuit ecclesiasticse tradito
sepulturae ; Petita insuper, ut moris est, ex parte nostra liccncia pariter et obtenta a obtained from prsenobili et praepotenti viro domino Kicardo comite War? et Sar ipsius monasterii
'patrono et fundatore,* procedendi ad novam electionem abbatissa; ibidem faciendam, ne ipsum monasterium nostrum incommoda diucius deploraret, ego Cristina Edwyk priorissa antedicta ac prassidens capituli ipso monasterio sic vacante, die Sabbati post festum Sancti Gregorii Papse, videlicet decimo-septimo die mensis Marcii,b una cum consororibus infrascriptis tune ibidem praesentibus, intravimus domum capitularem ejusdem monasterii, ac licentia dicti patroni ostensa lecta et declarata primitus per me coram eisdem, videlicet coram domina Johanna Brydham celeraria, Domina Alicia Ayshforde suppriorissa, Domina Johanna Cave, Domina Agnete Yerde sacrista, Domina Agnete William firmaria, Domina Alicia Parker tercia priorissa, Domina Florencia Carewe secunda cantrice, Domina Johanna Seynt Tabyn, Domina Johanna Stappe" expresse, Sorore Radegunda Stapulhille, Amea Clyftone, et Agnete Stone canonicis et consororibus in dicto monasterio regulam et ordinem Sancti Augustini tacited professis simul et capitulariter congregatis, do special! mandato et expresso consensu ipsarum omnium et singularum consororum,
Pro me dicta Cristina et dictis meis consororibus diem Jovis proximum extunc Eufction!1 ' sequentem, videlicet vicesimum primum diem mensis Marcii, ad electionem futurae
abbatissse monasterii nostri prasdicti in dicto domo capitulari faciendam seu cele- brandam cum continuatione et prorogatione dierum tune immediate sequentium quousque electio hujusmodi fuerit cclebrata, Nobismet ipsis et nostrum singulis ac cuilibet de dicto conventu sen aliunde vocein in hujusmodi electione habentibus, necnon ad omnia alia et singula exercenda et expedienda quaa ipsius electionis negocium et nos concernere in ea parte poterant vel debuerant,
a The coinji! <l\'lire, or licence of the patron to elect a head, was required just as much in the case of a small abbey like Cauonsleigh, as it is at the present day before the chapter of Canterbury or London can elect an arclibi.shop or bishop.
In the present instance, Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick and Salisbury (the "king-maker"), appears to have been founder and patron in right of his wife Anne Beauchamp, ultimately heir of her brother, Henry, Duke of Warwick, himself heir of Isabel Despencer, by her second husband, Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick: this Isabel being sister and heir of Richard Despencer, Earl of Gloucester, great-grandson of Edward, second son of Hugh le Despencer the younger, and heir of his mother Eleanor, eldest sister and coheir of Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hereford, son and heir of Gilbert, son and heir of Matilda de Clare, the foundress of the abbey. On the attainder of the king-maker, who only survived Alice Parker's election by one year, having been slain at the battle of Barnet in 1471, his possessions coming to the crown, King Henry VII. became founder, and as such gave conge d'elire on the next election of an abbess in 1488, when Alice Parker died, and again in 1499, after the death of Joan Stubbe.
b The day of the mouth seems mistaken. The 17th of March in 157$, with which year all the rest cf the dates agree, fell on Sunday not on Saturday.
f Probably the same person as Joan Stubbe, afterwards abbess.
d A religious person might be held " tacitly professed " who, being of full age, remained in the monastery upwards of a year, wearing the habit of the order, although he or she had not solemnly taken the vows. See as to this, Lyndwode, Tit. De Regularibus c. Sanctimoniales.
Priory and Abbey of Canonsleigh. 446
assignavimus, limitavimus, assumpsimus, statuimus et praefiximus tune ibidem. Decrevimus eciam
tune ibidem de consensu omnium ct singularum consororum tune prsesencium
Dominam Aliciam Ayshbury, ejusdem domus praeeentricem, ordinem et regulam £|^t«
Sancti Augustini expresse professam, sed tune absentem, et quadam gravi aegritudine
in firmitorio detentam, fore citandam, ad interessendum die et loco prefixis una cum aliis, et
consenciendum in negocio eleccionis hujusmodi, si voluerit et valuerit commode
interesse. Quo die Jovis veniente, videlicet vicesimo primo die mensis Marcii
antedicti, missaque de Spiritu Sancto ad summum altare ejusdem monasterii solemp-
niter celebrata, ac demum convenientibus insimul ad sonum campanae Mary vulgariter nuncupate,
et capitulariter congregatis in domo nostra capitulari praedieta pro hujusmodi electione celebranda,
Xobis Cristina priorissa, Johanna Brydham, Alicia Ayshforde, Agnete Yerde, Agnete Wylyham,
Alicia Parker, Florencia Carew, Johanna Seynt Tabyn, Johanna Stappe, Radegunda Stapulhille,
Amea Clyftone, et Agnete Stone, pcrsonaliter, Johanna Cave et Alicia Ayshbury in firmitorio
gravi 33<mtudinc detentis. per me dictam priorissam earum procuratricem rite et
Sermon, Pet. 1,
sufficienter ordmatam, ac proposito verbo Dei per venerabilem virum magis- m. 8 " Be ye all
trum Nicholaum Gosse in sacra theologia bacallarium, cujus thema Unanimes estate,
prima Petri tercio, et Spiritus Sancti gracia invocata per decantacionem ympni Angelici " Veni
Creatus (sic) Spiritw" solempniter decantati, ac constitutionibus Quia propter* et Vt,d Creator
Indempnitatibvsb per discretum virum magistrum Owynum Lloid, legum doctorem,
summarie declaratis in vulgari, Post licenciam ejusdem domini Ricardi comitis Warf r°^M
et Sar patroni publice et aperte perlectam declaratam et repetitam nobis elegendi
ibidem futuram abbatissam per eundem concessam, cujus Iicentio3 tenor patet in haec verba: —
Ricardus comes Warret Sar religiosae domus atque ecclesiac de Canonleghe ordinis Sancti Augus- tini Exoniensis diocesis fundator, priorissae domus praedictae et ejusdem domus con- ventui, salutem in domino sempiternam. Cum domusatque ecclesia praedictae per mortem t°^e ' religiosac mulieris Johannas Arundelle, nuper abbatissae domus praedictae, qurc dudum obiit, cujusque corpus sacra sepulturae traditum extitit, solatio abbatissae destituta existit, prout per litteras vestras sub sigillo communi domus praedictae inde confectas nobis plenius constat, Nos igitur considerantes plurima incommoda quae ecclesia viduata in ejus viduitatis et vacationis tempore multociens dinoscitur sustinere, volentes contra talia cicius quo poterimus de rcmedio
" The Constitution Quia propter " is the 24th canon of the fourth Council of Lateran, held under Innocent III. A.D. 1215. which requires the election to be made by scrutiny of votes ; by compromise (when the chapter agreed to delegate their powers for this occasion to certain individual members of their body) ; or lastly, by inspiration, i.e. by unanimous concurrence and acclamation." Dr. Oliver, from whoso Preface (page ix) I quote, gives the text of the Constitution from Concilia, xxviii. 183, ed. Paris, 1(>44. He might have added the reference from the Corpus Juris Canonici, namely, Extra de Electione, c. Quia propter. (Decretal. Greg. IX lib. i. tit. vi cap. xlii.)
b This is a Constitution of Boniface VIII., and will be found in Sexto Decretalium, lib. i. tit. vi. De Electione, &c., c. xliii. It refers to elections in houses of females alone. The only passage which illustrates the subject is extracted in the next footnote.
446 Ckarfart and Documents relating to the
providcre oportuno, vestris supplication! et petition! annuentcs ad clectionem canonicam in hac parte procedendi et de salubri abbatissa in dorao praedicta canonice providcndi, vobis licenciam damns et per praesentes concedimus specialem. In cujus rei testimonium pnesentibus sigillum nostrum apposuimus. Datae quarto die mensis Marcii, anno domini millesimo quadringentisimo septuagesimo. — Ego Cristina priorissa antedicta vice mea et omnium mearum consororum ac dc earum mandate ct cxpresso consensu in vulgari, juxta juris peritorum consilium quasdam monitiones et protestationes foci in scriptis in baec verba, — In Dei nomine amen.
Monition for _ . f , . . .
those not enti- kgo Uomina (_ nstma hdwyk priorissa monasteru Beat33 Mariae Virginia Sanctique to'dcpart.1"*1 ' Johannis Evangclistae ordinis Sancti Augustini de Canonleghe Exoniensis diocesis
vice mea ac aliarum concanonicarum et consororum mearum omnium et singularum hie praesentium, ac de mandato speciali michi facto eciam ab eisdem, universos et singulos excommunicates et suspenses vel interdictos necnon alios quoscumque hie prssentes qui de jure aut consuetudine in prajscnti electionis negocio non deberent interesse, moneo quatinus ab hac domo nostra capitulari recedcnt, Xosque ad quas jus pertinct eligendi, ad electionem libere procedere paciantur, Protestaus in hiis scriptis vice mea et aliarum omnium praedictarum consororum mearum, quod non est intencionis nostrae aut alicujus nostrum cum ipsis aut ipsorum aliqua in hoc electionis negocio procedere seu quanquam eligere cum eisdem, scd quod voces et vota eorundem
nulli prastent tmfFragium nee alicui aflerant nocumentum, quinimmo pro non
Lay folk and . .
seculars exi-iu- uatis ct receptis habeantur. — Qua quidcm protestatione prasmissa, exclusisque laicis quibuscumque ac secularibus, exceptis notario ct testibus inl'rascriptis, qui pro regimino, directione et testimonio negocii electionis nostraj liujusmodi iuerant evocati, Ac demum Address of the nobis super forma proeedendi aliqualiter tractantibus, Ego statim Priorissa protuli haec niendlT/Dame ver'ja : " Sorores meae, michi videtur quod Domina Alicia Parker esset nobis et Alice Parker. monastcrio nostro valde utilis et necessaria." Cui omnes et singulae consorores Election per illicio (sic) et repcntc et quasi per inspirationem (Alicia Parker concanonica et
intpiralionem,'
consorore nostra predicta dumtaxat cxccpta,) idem unanimitcr dixerunt ; undo incontinunter ego pramominata Cristina priorissa prxdicta vice mea et omnium consororum mearum ac de earum speciali mandato et expresso consensu eandem Aliciam Parker elego in communi mulierem itaque providam et discretam, cx])erientia regularis disciplinse praeditarn, vita, moribus ct conversacionc merito commendendam (sic), in aetate legittima constitutam et dc Icgittimo matrrmonio procrcatam, atque in ordine, religionc, et regula Sancti Augustini in dicto monasterio expresse professam,b necnon in spiritual ibus et temporalibus plurimum circumspectam, Cui nichil obstare speratur de canonicis iiistitutis quominus ipsius
* Canonical election may V>e in one of three ways — Per vlam Sjririttiit Sancti, sice per inx/iirationem, where as in the present case (lie choice is immediate and unanimous: per viam scnillnif, by majority of votes of all the electors separately taken: or, per viam compromissi, where the electors nominate one person or more to whom the choice of the person to be elected is left.
b "Nee in abbatissam aut priorissam, ubi per priorissam monasterium gubernatur, de ceteroeligatur aliqua nisi tricesimum annum compleverit, et exprtsse professa fuerit ordinem regulareui." Const. Indempnitatilus, ubi
Priori/ and Abbey of Canonsleigh. 447
monasterii regimen canonice valeat obtinere, et ipsam electionem ibidem publicavi. Qua electione sic celebrata, praefata clecta sic praesens, seorsum ad quendam angulum ejusdem domus capitularis so ammovit et divertit. Et statim et consequenter per me dictam Cristinam priorissam antedictam ac procuratorem et nunciam specialem, a toto conventu in hac parte sufficienter deputatam, idem (sic) conventus praefatam electionem dicta: consorori nostrae Aliciae Parker sic electae fecerunt praesentari, Necnon ipsam ad consenciendum hujusmodi electionem de se factae suppliciter requiri. Ipsa vero consoror Alicia Parker electa nostra prhno resistens, tandem grates reddens Deo suisque electricibus multiformes, post modicam deliberationcm habitam, divinae nolens ut asseruit resistere voluntati, nee suarum concanonicarum communi et concordi electioni contradicere, annuit votis earum [et] electioni hujusmodi consenciit in liec verba: — In Dei nomine amen. Ego Alicia Parker canonica monasterii sive abbathiaVBeatae Maria: Virginia Sanctiquc Johannis Evangelistae de Canonleghe ordinis Sancti Augustini Exoniensis diocesis, ordinem et regulam Sancti AMesa'ciect " Augustini in eadem abbathia expresse professa, et in aetate legittima constituta, electa in abbatissam abbathia! antedictae nunc vacantem, sajpius et instanter ex parte consororum mearum multipliciter cum non modica instancia requisita quatinus electioni de me jactae consensum preberern pariter et assensum, Nolens ulterius divinae resistere voluntati, illis qui me clegerunt grates quas possum refero ; et quamvis hujusmodi negociura magnum sit et arduum, ac ego non sim ita potcns ad sustinendum et supportandum illud, Tamen Dei auxilio ct consororum mearum consilio, ac ad honorem Sanctai et Individual Trinitatis, Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, ct Beatac Mario: Virginis Sanctique Johannis Evangelistas, in quorum honore ecclesia conventualis praalibate (sic) honorificc extitit dedicata, electioni hujusmodi de me facta; expresse consentio et cam accepto in hiis scriptis — Quo habito, psalmo Te ])eum laudumus solempniter decantato, cum solempni campanarum puliacione. dictam clectam nostram inter duas sorores
. Tr Drum sung,
ante summum altare ecclesia; nostrae conventualis memoratae nobis omnibus and the Bolls processionaliter ordinatae, in sequentibus introduximus; qua: prostrata in orutione, et psalmo totaliter decantato, ac quadam oratione congruente super eandem electam dicta, statim ipsa electio, per dictum venerabilem virum magistrum Nicholaum Gosse de spcciali mandate ymmo verius devota supplicatione mei priorissaj et tocius conventus, (dicta electa dumtaxat excepta,) mnltis convicinis ac extraneis in multitudine copiosa praesentibus infra ccclesiam conventualcm dicti monasterii alta et intelligibili voce electionem hujusmodi aperte publicari fccimus ct coram omnibus declarari. Qua: publicatio nb omnibus tune ^"^'f^ctTo" precsentibus crat pacifice audita et gratanter accepta.
Reverendos igitur paternitati vestrae antedictae, vestrisve commissariis quibuscumquc in hac parte legittime constitutis vel constituendis, humiliter et devote voto unanimi supplicamus, quatinus eandem electionem nostram vi et Spiritus Sancti gracia, tarn solempniter confirmation, quam concorditer celebrata in, per vos aut vestros commissaries conlirmare, ac eidein electae nostrae munus bcnedictionis impendcrc, caetera in hac parte neccssaria ac eciam oportuna qua? vestro in hac parte incumbunt ofTicio pastorali favorabiliter impartiri facere graciose dignemini; ut Deo auctore cadem electa nobis et ecclesia; nostroe piaedictac sub patcrnitatis vestra; praesidio abbatissa et pastrix ydonea pracssc valeat utiliter ct prodcsse, Xosque sub ipsius felici regiminc possimus coram
Charters and Documents relating to the
Deo salubritcr militare. Caeterum ut vestra reverenda paternitas noscat evidencius praemissa rei gestae veritatcm habere, votaque omnium nostrorum ut praefertur in praam issis omnibus et singulis concor- dasse, ac in hujusmodi supplicatione et requisitione nos unanimiter convenisse, vobis vestrisque com- missariis quibuscunque in hac parte dcputatis sive deputandis praesens nostrae electionis dccretum trans- misiraus. Quod per Nicholaum Crese clericum Exoniensis diocesios notarium auctoritate apostolica publicum, dictaeque electionis et in eadem actorum scribam, exinde fieri subscribique et publicari ac in hanc publicam formam redigi, ejusque signi appositione et nostri sigilli communis appencione mandavimus et fccimus fideliter communiri, in testimonium et (idem omnium praemissorum. Datum quoad praesens decreti nostri consignationem apud Canonleghe in domo nostra capitulari pnedicta, vicesimo sccundo die mensis Marcii praelibati, anno domini supradicto.
Acta sunt haec prout suprascribuntur et recitantur mensibus, diebus, loco et anno domini supra- dictis, Indictione quarta, Pontificatus sanctissimi in Christo patris et domini nostri Domini Pauli divina providentia Papa; Secundi anno septimo, praescntibus yi singulis actis atque gestis dicto die vicesimo primo mensis Marcii praelibati, anno domini supradicto, venerabilibus et discretis viris magistris Johanne Pascawyn9 sacra theologiae professore, Jolianne Perys rectorc ecclesia: parochialis de Uffeculme, Domino Thoma Harry vicario de Burlyscombe, et Nicholao Notarial attes- Prous litterato testibus ad praemissa vocatis specialiter et rogatis.
Lt ego Xicholaus Crese clericus Exoniensis diocesis publicus auc- toritate Apostolica notarius praefatis missae de Spiritu Sancto supradicto vicesimo primo die mensis Marcii ad majus altare monastcrii de Canonleghe praedicti cele- brationi, verbique Dei proposition! et ympni Veni Creator Spiritus in domo capitulari dicti monasterii decantationi, dictarumque constitutionum declarationi, monitionibus et protestationibus per pncfatam Cristinam Edwyk priorissam pncdictam factis,
Witu
The Notarial
Mark
of Nicholas
Crese.
dictaeque Alicia? Parker sororis solcmpni et in communi electioni, necnon ejusdem electionis pnedictae electse in domo capitulari dicti monastcrii per priorissam praedictam pi-assentation! et consensus requisitioni, ac postmodum preelibatse elector huic electioni de ipsa celebrate consensus pracstationi, Psalmi Te Deum laudamus de- cantationi, ipsiupque electaj ad sum mum altare ecclesiae conventualis dicti monasterii inter duas sorores introduction!, ac przefatse electionis clero et populo publicationi, caeterisque omnjbus et singulis dum sic ut pra?mittitur prx-fato vicesimo primo die Marcii agerentur et fiercnt una cum testibus supcrius dcsignatis sub anno Domini, indictione, pontificatu et mense, quibus supra personaliter interfui, eaque omnia et singula sic fieri, vidi ct audivi, variis aliunde occupatus negociis, per alium scribi feci, et in hanc publicam formam rcdegi, ac praescnti publico instrumento signum meum apposui consuetum, et hie me subscripsi de mandate tain ipsius electae quam eligencium requisitus et rogatus in testimonium prjemissorum.
Priory and Abbey of Canonsleigli. 449
Num. IX. Carta Willelmifilii Gyrardi de Cltete.
[Ex autogr. penes eundem.]
Sciant praesentes et futuri quod ego Willelmus filius Gyrardi de Cliste, consensu et assensu here- dum meorum, concessi et hac present! carta mea confirmavi Willelmo Hastement pro homagio et servitio suo donationem et quietam clamantiam unius forlingi terrae in Kyldringthone cum omnibus pertinentiis suis in australi parte de Hesyle, quam Walterus filius et heres Pagani Janitoris praefato Willelmo Hastement concessit et carta sua confirmavit; Tenend et habend eidem Willelmo et heredibus suis de me et de heredibus meis jure hereditario in perpetuum, libere et quiete, integre et pacifice, in boscho et piano, in pratis et paschuis, in viis et semitis, in aquis et mariscys, et cum omnibus aliis libertatibus cidem forlingo pertinentibus ; Reddendo inde annuatim michi vel heredibus meis unam libram cymini ad Natale Domini, pro omni servitio, salvo regali servitio, quantum pertinet ad unum forlingum terrae. Pro hac autem concessione et confirmatione mea dedit michi prsedictus Willelmus unum annulum aureum cum una gerneta in recognitione. Quod ut ratum et inconcussum inperpetuum permaneat, praesenti scripto et sigilli mei muniminc confir- mavi. Hiis testibus, Eudone de Bellocampo tune vicecomite Devonian per Robertum de veteri ponte, Ricardo Flandrensi, Martino de Fisacre, Waltero de Colom, Johanne Cola, Reginaldo Wauthortti, Waltero Thurbcrt, Nicholas Gervasii, Waltero La Chawe, et multis aliis.8
Seal, circular, Vf inch in diameter; subject, a long tailed bird, neck thrown up, wings elevated. Legend, in Lombardic characters, SIG'. [WILLELMJI. DE CLIST FIL' GIRARDI.
Num. X.
Carta Rogeri Hemerici. [Ex autogr. penes eundem. Vide Cod. Harl. 3660, fo. 914.]
Sciant presentes ct futuri quod Ego Rogerus Hemerici b vcndidi domino Danieli de Longocampo octo solidatas redditus extra portam australem Exonie pro sex marcis argenti quas mihi prc- manibus plenarie persolvit; scilicet quatuor solidatas redditus quos mihi debuit Rogerus le Bruton
• Sir W. Pole (Dev. Coll. 92) says that Robert de Veteri Ponte was sheriff of Devon and Eudo de Bello- campo in his place from 12 John to the end of the reign. The deed would seem to show that Vipont was the deputy. In the lists of Exeter mayors and provosts, Walter la Chawe (Le Caws) figures from 1232- 1267 ; and Walter Thurbert from 1219 to 1236. The date of the deed is, therefore, most likely very late in the reign of King John. » Alibi, Rogerus Emeray.
VOL. XL. 3 M
450 Charters, Sfc., relating to the Abbey at Canonslcigh.
de domo cum pertinentiis quam de me temrit ; Et quatuor solidatas redditus quos mihi debuit Agnes Thatmayde de domo cum pertinentiis quam de me tenuit. Et volo et concedo pro me et heredibus meis quod dictus Daniel vel quicunque alius vel alii cui vel quibus idem Daniel dictum redditum octo solidorum dare vendere vel assignare voluerit, habeant et teneant eundem redditum imperpetuum quietum et solutum, nullo iure mihi vel heredibus meis inde retento. Et sciendum quod de residue tenement! mei ibidem, scilicet domo quadam cum pertinentiis qua; est intra predicta duo tenementa, ego et heredes mei debeinus aquietare predictas octo solidatas redditus de releviis et omnibus aliis serviciis, et ideo eandem domum cum pertinentiis non poterimus vendere invadiare vel quoquo modo alicnarc. Et quia volo quod hsec vendicio mea firmitatcm optineat perpetuam inter quatuor scanna Gialde Civitatis Exoniensis present! scripto sigillum meum apposui. Hiis tcstibus: Waltero la Chawe tune Majore Exonie," Hugone de Langed% et Philippe le Palmer9 tune prepositis, Illario Blondo, K. filio Henrici, Johanne Thurberti, Eicardo Walrand, Rogero Liden?, Ricardo Busse, Waltero de Molton, Johne Palmere et multis aliis. Seal, A fleur de lis. Legend, S. RO[GER1] EMERL
a Walter la Chaw or Chaw succeeded Nicholas Ilchester (who died in office), in 1267, Philip Palmer and Hugh de Langdon being his Provosts. (Jenkins, Hist, of Exeter, p. 45.) Hilary Blondy occurs in the same list as Mayor in 1255, and again in 1258, when Roger FitzHenry was his Provost. Oliver, Hist, of Exeter, 228, omits Hilary Blondy in these years, but makes an individual of that name Mayor in 1227. Walter de Molton occurs as Provost in 1240, 1241, 1243.
XXX. — Instructions given by King Henry VI. to Edward Grimston and others, his Ambassadors to the Duchess of Burgundy, 1449 ; and Notice of a Portrait of Edward Grimston, painted by Peter Christus in 1446. Com- municated in a Letter from WILLIAM J. THOMS, Esq., F.S.A., to C. KNIGHT WATSON, Esq., Secretary; with additional Observations by A. W. FEANKS, Esq., Director, and GEORGE SCHAEF, Esq., F.S.A.
Kead June 18th, 1863.
40, St. George's Square, S.W.,
17th June, 1863. MY DEAE SlE,
I AM enabled by the kindness of the Earl of Verulam to exhibit to the Society the original of a Document of some interest in the commercial history of this country.
It is the Instructions given by Henry the Sixth, on the 28th May, in the 27th year of his reign, that is in 1449, to Edward Grimston (the ancestor of the noble Earl to whom the document now belongs,) and others, whom he sends as Ambassadors to treat with the Ambassadors of the Duchess of Burgundy, respect- ing certain infringements of the Treaty lately concluded between the King and the Duchess, and on matters connected with the trade and commerce of the two countries.
The commission to the ambassadors will be found in Hymer, vol. xi. p. 229 ; but the instructions have, I believe, never been printed, and appear to me deserving the attention of the Society.
But the Society will probably consider of yet higher interest the contemporary Portrait of Edward Grimston, which Lord Verulam has kindly brought up from Gorhambury for the purpose of its being exhibited before the Society.
It was painted in 144G, and is therefore one of our earliest dated English portraits, and is by an artist (Petrus Christus) whose name is preserved on the back of the pannel, but of whom little seems to be known. I hope, however, that Mr. Scharf, whose acquaintance with works of art is far more extensive than mine, may be able to furnish some particulars respecting him.
Believe me, my dear Sir,
Yours very truly,
WILLIAM J. THOMS.
C. Knight Watson, Esq., M.A.
3M2
452 Instructions given by King Henry VI. to Edward Grimston,
Instructions yeven by the Kyng cure soucerajn lorde to his trusty and welbeloved Johan Marney knyghte, Maistre Thomas Kent doctoure of lawe, William Pyrton, Edward Grymeston and John Wodehous squyers, iiij, iij or twaine of thaim, whom he sendeth his Ambassatours at this tyme to his Totcne of Calais for to commune trete appoints and conclude with the Commissaries of the Duchesses of Bourgoigne in the maters that folowetfi.
Furst at suchc tyme as the saide Ambassatours shall assemble with the saide Duchesse Arabas- satours at Calais, the whiche is accorded shall be the xij day of Juyng next commyng, thei shall mowe saye that they be there by the Kynges commaundement havyng full power to commune pro- cede and appointe diverse matters concernyng the wele of bothe parties And that the Kinges will is that thei shall entende effectuelly to alle suche thinges as may be thoughte good and behovefulle And forthirmore proceding thai shall abide and awaite what maters the saide Duchesse Ambassa- tours woll desire to commune of, and do thaire parte asrauch as thay may that askinges and peticions growe of that other partie.
Item the saide Ambassatours shall sai thai bene redy to entende and procede in frendly wyse as lawe and reason woll to the reformacion of attemptats, and thereupon be redy to receyve and here the complaintes of bothe sides and aunsweres to thaym, and do thaire parte to understonde the trouthe of the saide complaintes by due and lawfullc examinacion, that is to say, thai shall see who it is that complayneth and whethir he be there in his owne persone or by what auctorite he apperith and admittc no complainte without the complaigner have sufficient power.
Item thei shall in examynyng the maters receyve and admitte suche proves as lawe wolle, not yeving feith to thafTcrmacion of the partie nor to lettres testimoniall of citees townes or officers neither to private writynges, but to witnesses duely examined, confession of the parties, open instru- mentes, open knowlache of the dedc or other proves such as the lawe woll admitte or suche as it shall be thought to theire discrecions sufficient.
Item for asmuche as it is supposed that the Kinges subgittes upon whom the complaintes been and shall be made woll not be present, the saide Ambassatours shall mowe saye thai ben redy not- withstanding thabsence of the partie to lucre theire complaintes, to selc and receyve the proves in that partie, and so shall mowe do and commune and debate the mater as shall be thought to thaire discrecions, absteinyng thaym in all that thei may to condcscende and yeve any Jugement or sen- tence ayenst the partie so absent though it be thought mater clerely proved but if it so be that for the better proccdyng in other maters or to eschewe rupture or other inconveniences it shall be thought to the saide Ambassatours necessarie and behovefulle to procede and yeve suche sentence, and in that cas thay shall say thai woll report it to the Kyng to that entent that execucon be made as the cas shall require.
Item as touching the matier of Crotoye, sith it was accorded and concluded by the trewes taken by my lorde of York and the saide Duchesse the which have divers tymes be proroged that thappatisementes woued to be paied to Crotoye in tyme of werre shuld ceesse, yit notwithstanding as it is saide thai of Crotoie have receyved continuelly and yit don the saide appatisementes And thereuppon that other partie desire to be restored of that thai have paied, the saide Commissaires
and Notice of a Portrait of Edtcard Grimston. 453
shall mowe saye that at such tyme as the lorde Haburdyn was in Englande the Kyng ordeined to be paied a greet somme of money for the saide cause of his owne fredom withoute that any sufficient informacion was had in that behalve And over this commaunded straitely that thai of Crotoie shulde absteigne thaym from thens forth fro the receyvyng of suche appatisementes, the which commaundement the King undirstandith thai have obeied and cannot thinke that thai have do any thing to the contrary, but and it be afiermed that it be otherwise the saide Commissaires shal be redy to hiere thexaminacion and receyve proves therof and where thai fele difficulte therin thay shall say thai woll report it to the Kyng.
Item the saide Gommissaires shall mow remembre that now late the saide Due hath ayenst the tenure of the trewe ordeigned that noone Englisshe clothe wollen cloth shuld be brought into the Contrees of Holland Zeland and Brabant to the grete hurt and damage of the King and his subgittes ayenst the trewes and olde frendeship of the saide Contrees, and aske in the Kinges name for the saide hurtes and damages xx.M1 ii. withoute particuler hurtes and dammages of his sub- gittes, or suche a somme as it shall be thoughte to thaire discrecion.
And in this matier thay shall mowe calle to mynde that the Kyng divers tymes hathe sent to the saide Duchesse for revocacion of the saide ordenaunces, wherein she hath certified by writyng, and peraventure hir Ambassatoure woll say the same that the saide ordenaunce was made by thadvis wille or aggrement of the Marchauntes of thestaple at Calais The Kinges saide Ambassatours shall mowe say that it cannot so be conceyved but that fully the Marchauntes of the saide estaple had never knowlache therof and so the Maire and Marchauntes of thestaple called before the Kinges Counsaill answered that thai yave never counsail ne consented to the saide ordenaunces And thoughe it had be so that summe of the saide Marchauntes for thcire plesure and singuler proufit wolde have desired suche a thing ayenst the commune wele the King wold not have supposed that the saide Duchesse wolde have be moved therewith without the certificacion of the King And sithen that she nowe knoweth the King is not nor may be content with so prejudiciall a thing as this is aswcle to him self his subgittes as others he doubtcth not the saide Duchesse nor hir Ambassatours woll not estraunge theym to the revocacion therof And remembre that the Duchesse certified the King by hir lettres that hir Ambassatours sluild come fully instruit at this tyme to Calais in the saide matier And make request that it be so doo.
Item thai shall mow calle to mynde that aswele in thappointemcntes made afore this tyme betwix the King and thaym of Holand Zeland &c. as in the trewes taken by my lord of York in the Kinges name with the saide Duchesse Commissaries at Roen divers tymes sithen prorogcd It is conteined expressely that alle marchaundise shul frely have his cors betwix bothe parties with- outen eny lette or distourbaunce.
Item the same is also conteigned in the Trewes taken and yit enduring betwix the Kyng and his Oncle of Fraunce in the which the King understandeth the saide Duchesse is comprised And therefore not withouten cause the King mervailleth of the saide ordenaunce so ayenst the saide frendships appointementes and also divers trewes.
Item the saide ordenaunce is ayenst the olde frendships and custume long tyme observed, for it cannot be remembred but at all tymes it hathe bene sene and used Englissh clothe to rcsorte and have his uttcraunce in Holland Zetland and Braband where it is now forboden, like as mar- chaundiees of thos contrees ben frely uttred here upon thees groundes and such others as shal be
454 Instructions given by King Henry VI. to Edward Grimston.
thought to the saidc Ambassatours may serve therto thai shall gader as many reasons as thai canne and God woll yeve thaym grace to sture and moeve the Duchesse Ambassatours to the revocacion of the saide ordenaunce and prohibicion.
Item thai shall mowe say that the nature of trewes woll and is thentente therof that alle Marchaundise shulde have his course and Marchauntes to have thcire communicacion eche with other, and if so were that an ordenaunce myghte be made for the stopping of oo maner of marchaundise In like wise it myghte be extended to another and so to all, and by that meene alle marchaundise ceese and the trewe remayne of noon effect nor ease to the subgittes.
Item if it be saide that this mater myghte be eased at suche tyme as it shulde be spoke of the reformacion of Attcmptates It may be saide that it is thought that the saide ordenaunce may not be called attemptates nor conprised in the nature therof but is directely enervacion of the Trewe and contrary therto and in no wise reformable lesse thanne it be revoked.
Item the saide Commissaries shall remembre that the yerc of oure lorde a M'.cccc.xi/v the ix day of April in the Townc of Bruges were made and appointed betwix the Kingis Commissaries and the Commissaries of the Contrees of Holland Zelland and Friseland certaine articles the which the saide Due hath approved ratified and confermed And amonges other thinges it was ordeigned and appointed that Englissh Marchauntes shuld have had in recompense of theire hurtcs and wronges doone to thaym by men of Holland Zelland and Friseland a certaine somme of money to have be paied at certain daycs and if any defaute happed or were in paiement therof or any parte therof, thanne it shulde be la\vfull to the saide Englissh marchantes to arrest the said Hollanders Zellanders and Frises theire goodis and shippcs and kepe thaym and alienc the saide goodes til the ful contentement of the saidc sommcs with costes and damages after the discrecions of the Kinges Commissaries, and over that rcsorte to theire hole acciones that the saide Englissh marchantes had before ayenst the saide Hollanders Zellanders and Frises the which thinges more at large appere in thappointementes made thereupon And sith it is soo that the saide daies of paiement bene not kept but that thai bene past and also diverse and many delayes desired by the saide Duchesse, the Commissaries abovcsaide shall aske and require redy contentement of the saide sommes due with dammagcs and costes made in that behalve, to the which if that other parte woll condescende the King is content that the saidc appointcmcntes remaigne and be observed as they were accorded.
And if it be so that other partie wol not entende therto nor appointe the contentement of the saide sommc, the saide Commissaries shal lat thaim wite in the Kinges behalf his wille is that his subgittes have and rejoyce the benefet of the saide appointementes that was made and accorded if the money were not paied at the dayes accorded And also that thai be admitted to have hool restitucion of the goodes take fro thaim after theffect of the saide appointementes.
Item the saide Commissaries shall use tharticlcs_ abovcsaide with suche dircccion and circum- stances as God and thaire discrecions woll yeve thaym.
Item thai shall use thordre abovesaide if it shal be thoughte to thaym so expedient, or elles oon Article before another as it shal be thoughte to thaire discrccion moost neccssarie and behovefull. In witnesse whereof to this present Instruccion the King oure saide souvcrain lorde hath do be put his greet and prive scales. Yeven at Westmenster the xxviij day of May the yere of the regne
of the same oure souverain lorde xxvij.
FRANCIS
MOND.
Notes on Edward Grimston, Esq. Ambassador to the Duchess of Burgundy. By A. "W. FRANKS, Esq., Director.
IT may be of interest to the Society to collect together such notices as occur of Edward Grimston, the ambassador to the Duchess of Burgundy, and the person represented in the interesting portrait by Peter Christus.
By the kindness of the Earl of Verulam, I have been able to make use of variqus documents, apparently unpublished, which assist in throwing some light on the ambassador's history.
The family of Grimston, of Grimston in Holderness, was of great antiquity, and claims descent from Sylvester de Grimston, standard-bearer to William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings. The name does not however appear in the Roll of Battle Abbey. Edward Grimston, as shown by a document printed below, claimed to bear the arms which had been borne by his ancestors for 400 years, which would carry them back even before the Conquest.
The Grimstons of Grimston, or Grimston Garth, in Holderness, it may be stated, bore the arms, Arg. on a fesse sa. three mullets pierced or. The subject of our notice and his descendants, being a junior branch, differenced the coat by the addition of an ermine spot sa., and in this form the arms appear both on the front and back of the portrait. The coat in its undifferenced state is given in the Roll of Arms temp. Richard II. as borne by Gerard de Grymston, probably the person called in the pedigrees Sir Gervaise Grimston of Grimston, who died without issue. He was succeeded by his brother Walter, whose son Wil- liam Grimston of Grimston, had three sons : from the eldest of them, Thomas, descend the Grimstons of Grimston.
The second son, Robert, seems to have settled in Suffolk during the reign of Henry V. ; he married a daughter of Sir Anthony Spilman, of Suffolk, which match is said to have been the cause of his removing to that county." There was, however, an early connection with the De la Poles, who, starting from Hull, had acquired lands in Norfolk and Suffolk. The Grimstons living in Holderness may have had transactions with the wealthy merchants of Hull, and in the 16th of Richard II. we find that Gerard de Grimston had given a bond for £50 to Sir Michael de la Pole.b
The son of Robert Grimston was Edward Grimston, the subject of this notice. Either he or his father may have adopted the difference of an ermine spot in
* Reyce, in a manuscript pedigree, gives 1421 as the date of the settling in Suffolk. b Kal. and Inv. Exch. ii. p. 45.
456 Notes on Edicard Grimston, Esq.
their coat of arms ; and, as we find two coats ascribed to the name of Spilman or Spelman in which ermine charges occur, it is not impossible that the ermine spot may have been derived from that source.
Edward Grimston is described as of Rishangles in Suffolk, in which parish it may be mentioned that the De la Poles held a knight's fee, and from a document which will be hereafter noticed it would appear that he had been in the service of the Earl of Suffolk during the minority of Henry VI. that is before 1442.
The first notice of him that I have found in the public documents is in 1441. On the 25th November, 20 Henry VI. (1441), a warrant was issued to the treasurer and chamberlains to pay to Stephen Wilton, Doctor of Laws, " which goeth in the King's service to the Duchess of Burgundy and others," c. marcs. A similar warrant was issued to pay Edward Grymston and William Port, to cither of them £20, as a reward to go " in the said message with the said Master Stephen." Three days afterwards however it appears that William Port was indisposed to go, and the sum to be paid to him was ordered to be divided between AVilton and Grimston, 20 marcs to the former, and 10 marcs to the latter."
The mission to the Duchess of Burgundy was no doubt connected with the commercial treaties between England and Flanders. The great importance of an unrestricted trade between the two countries had led to a number of truces and treaties, infringed from time to time by the misconduct of the merchants of one or other country, or temporarily suspended by wars between the rulers of the two countries. So important however was the commerce to both parties that we occasionally find that a provision was made for the continuance of commercial intercourse, even though the rulers of the countries should be at war.
The Duke of Burgundy had been on the side o£ England; but, in 1435, annoyed with the second marriage of his brother-in-law the Duke of Bedford, and other causes, he concluded the treaty of Arras with France. This greatly exasperated the English, who, as a reprisal, went so far as to put to death some of the merchants from the Low Countries then in London. b The English took Ardres and the Burgundians Crotoy. The injury however which ensued to the commerce of Flanders induced the Duchess of Burgundy to write to her cousin, the King of England, to ask that commercial intercouse might be renewed. Commissioners were appointed on each side/ and a treaty for commercial intercourse was con- cluded for three years at Calais in 1439, to terminate November 1, 1442. d
a Nicolas, Proc. Privy Council, v. 169, 176. b Paradin, Annales de Bourgogne, p. 768.
£_c Rytner, x. 713. d Rymer, x. 736.
Notes on Edward Grimston, Esq. 457
In 1440, Wilton and Chyrch went to Bruges to settle the claims of damages made on either side since the treaty of Arras ; this they completed on the 17th June, 1440, and their award was confirmed by the King, 12th July following.*
In January 1444, the Earl of Suffolk and other Commissioners met at Tours to negotiate a truce with Trance as a preliminary to a peace, in consequence of the proposed marriage of Henry VI. with Margaret of Anjou. The truce was signed May 28, 1444, and the Earl of Suffolk, having been created a Marquess, was authorised to espouse the Princess of Anjou as proxy for the King. The espousals were celebrated at Nancy, and the Queen arrived April 9, 1445. Edward Grimston seems to have been connected with this business, as on the 17th of the previous August a payment of 146Z. 13s. M. was made from the Exchequer to the Marquess of Suffolk, who, by the King's command, proceeded abroad to bring over and safely conduct the Queen to the King's presence, " in money paid to him by the hands of Edward Grymeston in part payment of his wages of 4£. 10s. a day for two months for going upon the business aforesaid."" Grimston was likewise employed to pay sums to two minstrels of the Duke of Milan, and to John de Surenceurt, an esquire of Rene* of Anjou, who had come to the Queen's coronation.0
It is probable that in recompense of his various services, and also perhaps by the favour of the Earl of Suffolk, Grimston obtained on the 8th September, 1445, from the King, in conjunction with John Lampet, Lieutenant of Avranches, the reversion of the "Ward and Captaincy of the castle of Valoignes in Normandy. The original grant is in the possession of the Earl of Verulam, and runs as follows : —
Henry par la grace de dieu Eoy de franco et dangleterre a tons ceulx qui ces presentes lettres verront salut. Comme des se tiers jour du mois davril derniers passe pour consideracion des bons et aggreables seruices que nous a fais de long temps ov fait de nos gueures nostre ame et feal escuier Jehan Lampet lieutenant a Avranches et confians de ses sens loyalte diligence et bonne experience nous lui eussions done et ottroye a terme de sa vie la garde et capitainnerie de nostre chastel de Valoingnes vacans lors comme len disoit par la mort de Jehan de Robessarf1 lainsne chevalier et depuis avons eu congnoissance quil estoit encore en vie par quoy le don que en avions fait au dit Jehan Lampet na aucunement sorti son effect Et pur ce nous ayans en memoire icelui don du quel ne voulons estre frustre icelui escuier mais icelui valoir en temps et en lieu Savoir faisons que pour les causes devant dictes et consideracions des bons et loyaulx services que Edward Grymeston escuier nous a faij depieca des nostre jeune aage en la compaignie de nostre treschier et
» Rymer, x. 791. b Devon) issues, p. 443. c /$,#. p. 452.
d In 1432 Thierry de Robessart was captain of garrison at Saint- Sauveur-le-Vicomte. Joursanvault Papers, p. 227.
In 1433 Jehan de Robessart was captain of garrison at Caudebec. Ibid. p. 228. VOL. XL. 3 N
458 Notes on Edward Grimston, Esq.
tresame cousin le marquis conte de Suffolk grant maistre de nostre hostel si comme encore fait un chascun jour A iceulx Jehan Lampet et Edward ensemble et au seurvivant deulx deux avons donne et ottroye donnons et ottroyons de grace especial par ces presentes icelui office de garde et capitain- nerie de nostre chastel de Valoingnes que a tenu et tient de present le dit Jehan de Roberssart pour en joir par les dessusdis et survivant diceulx a terme de la vie deulx deux et dun chascun deulx comme dit est tantost apres le trespas du dit Jehan de Roberssart aux gaiges droiz franchises prouffiz et emolumens acoustumej Et ainsi et par la forme et maniere que en a joy et joist encore icelui de Robessart Et avec ce a telle charge et retenue de lances et darchiers qui par nous ou no} lieuxtenants ou commis leur sera selon les temps ordonnee Pourveu que les dessusdits Jehan Lampet et Edward ne prendront ne auront de nous tous deux autres gaiges pour raison dudit office de garde et capitainnerie quil est acoustume Et donnons en mandement au bailli de Cotentin on a son lieutenant que prins et receu des dis Jehan Lampet et Edward et dun chascun deulx le serment en tel cas acoustume il les mette et institue ou face mettre et instituer de par nous en possession et saisine du dit office et dicelui ensemble des droiz gaiges franchises prouffiz et emolumens dessus dits et au dit office appartenants les facent seuffrent et laissent joir et user plainnement et paisiblement par la maniere dessusdit et a eulx deux a chacun deulx obeir et entendre par tous ceulx quil appartendra es choses touchans et regardans icelui office en leur faisant iceulx gaiges paier baillicr et delivrer par ceulx quil appartendra et qui les ont acoustume de paier aux termes et en la forme et maniere acoustumez Lesquelj ainsi paiez nous voulons par rapportant avec ces presentes ou le vidimus dicelles fait soubz seel royal ensemble quietances des dessusdit Jehan Lampet et Edward ou de lun deulx pour lautre estre allouez es comptes et rabatuz de la recepte de celui ou ceulx qui paiez les aura ou auront par noz amez et feaulx les gens de nos comptes a Rouen Aux quelx nous mandons et commandons que ainsi le facent sans contredit ou difficulte aucune En tesmoing de ce nous avons fait mettre nostre seel a ces presentes. Donne en nostre chastel de Wyndesore le viijme jour de Septembre Ian de grace mil cccc quarante cinq et dc nostre regne le xxiijmc.
Par le Roy. monsieur le marquis Conte de Sulffolk, messire Emond Hunguerfford, et autres presens. — JE. RIVEL.
Attached to a wide parchment label a fragment of a seal of white wax, apparently the counter- seal of the French great seal of Henry VI. representing an angel holding two sceptres and the shield with the arms of France and England.8
We next find Grimston once more employed in a mission to Burgundy, and at a time that is of some interest, as being that of the date on the portrait by Peter Christus. (PI. XXVI.)
The treaty for commercial intercourse with Flanders had been made for three years in 1439 ;b and December 24, 1439, ambassadors were appointed (including Stephen Wilton) to meet the envoys of Flanders for the prolongation of the treaty,
" Engraved in Trcsor de Numismatique et de Glyptique, Sceaux des Rois de France, pi. xi. fig. 3.
b Eymer, x. 736.
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. VI. representing an angel holding two sceptres and uid.*
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ARMS OF EDWARD GRIMSTON AND SIGNATURE OF ARTIST.
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Notes on Edward Grimston, Esq. 459
•which was done for five years," so as to expire 1st November, 1447. In 1446 a meeting was held at Calais, and on the 4th August the treaty was renewed for twelve years, so as to expire 1st November, 1459."
This however controlled more especially the commercial intercourse between the two countries. In 1443, the Duchess of Burgundy, having received full powers from her husband, concluded with the Duke of York, Lieutenant and Governor-general for the King of England beyond the seas, a truce, from which either party could only recede by giving three months' notice.0 The letters patent of the Duchess are dated 23rd April, 1443. On the 1st of February, 1446, letters of safe-conduct" were given by Henry VI. to John de Luxembourg, Bastard of St. Pol and lord of Halburdyn, and his company, who had probably come on the business of the treaty. The truce was accordingly renewed, as appears by the Duchess of Burgundy's declaration, dated at Brussels 12th July, 1446, and by the renewal, each party was to give one year's notice before abandoning the truce. On the 14th July the King issued his letters patent, reciting the fact of the new treaty recently concluded, and appointing Master Thomas Kent, doctor of laws and clerk of the Council, and Edward Grymeston " ad tradendum et deliberandum dictas literas nostras una cum aliis ejusdem datse facta dictarum abstinentiarum tangentibus praefatoe consanguinese nostrse vel potestatem sufficientem in ea parte habentibus vel habenti Recipiendo literas super ipsis abstinentiis confectas sub sigillo ejusdem nostrse consanguine® continentes tenorem de verbo ad verbum ejusdem sedulse signatze per Dominum Johannem Luxembourg Militena Bas- tardum Sancti Pauli et dominum de Habourdyn.""
It is therefore probable that Kent and Grimston went to Brussels, where the Duchess then was, and it is possible that it was in that city that the portrait was painted by Peter Christus.
On the 14th May, 1447, the Duchess of Burgundy issued her letters patent/ in which, after reciting the treaty of the Duke of York, and stating that she has lately had speech with some servants and subjects of the King of England, " lors estans pardevers nous," she appointed the Bastard of St. Pol and Master Holland Pippe to communicate with the King of England or his officers. The truce was then prolonged for four years.
In December 1447, we find on the Issue Roll notice of a payment to Francis 1'Arragonois, lately made knight of the garter, made to him by the hands of Hennage, servant of Edward Grimston, as a gift from the King to discharge the
• Rymer, x. 750. i> Ibid. xi. 140. ° Ibid. xi. 24.
" Ibid. xi. 110. o Ibid. xi. 138. ' Ibid. xi. 171.
3N2
4GO Notes on Edward Grimston, Esq.
fee due by him as K.G. to St. George's Chapel." This was Sir Francis de Surienne, commonly called the Arragonese, who was elected K.G. on the 27th November, 1447, and installed 8th December following.
In consequence of infractions of the truce between France and England and between England and the Duchess of Burgundy, the King of England appointed on the 25th October, 1448, as ambassadors Sir Humphrey Stafford, Sir John Mareney knight, Master Robert Stillington and Master Richard Wetton doctors of law, together with "William Pirton and John Wodehous esquires, to meet at Calais, or any other convenient spot, in order to see to the correction, punish- ment, reparation, and reformation of these infractions, and to require and obtain the same from the other sides ; this was to be done " sine strep itu et figura judicii," by consent of both parties."
The meeting was held at Calais in November 1448, and prorogued to the 4th May, 1449 ; the ambassadors of the Duchess were the Bastard of St. Pol, Henry Uttenhove, and John Postel/
This brings us to the year 1449, the date of the instructions printed above. From the proceedings of the Privy Council"1 it would appear that on the 17th March, 27 Henry VI. (1449), William Pirton, lieutenant of Guines, and Edward Grymeston received instructions to go to the Duchess of Burgundy and with due reverence remonstrate at the prohibition of the introduction of English cloth ; and, after reminding her of the King's negociations with " they of Holland and Zealand," and the truce for free intercourse concluded at Rouen by the Duke of York, and the truce between England and France, in which the Duchess is com- prised, they are to state that the ordinance cannot be considered a restitution of attemptates. The instructions then go on as follows : —
" As the King has now called the third estates of his land and they be assembled at the city of London for his Parliament," the said third estates have piteously complained upon the said ordinance, and besought the King that he would ordain, if the said ordinance were not put aside without delay, that no merchandise of the said countries should be received or attempted in this land, but be forfeited in case it be brought hither, and so they beseech the King to require the said Duchess to put aside the ordinance.
" Inasmuch as there is a report of arms at St. Omer and concourse of people, and as divers habiliments of war have been ordained and made in divers places of that obeissance, the said ambassadors shall move of their own selfe, speak and
11 Devon, Issues, p. 4CO. b Rymer, xi. 218. c Ibid. xi. 220.
d Nicolas, Trocedings of the Privy Council, vi. 69. e Rot. Parl. v. 150, 151.
Notes on Edward Grimston, Esq. 461
commune upon this matter, and feel by all means they can to what intent the said things he ordained, for the noise and renown is that under the said colour divers enterprizes be imagined and taken in hand."
There are some further instructions which terminate with the statement that if the Duchess "will ordain and depute her people, as well for the quatre membres as other, to have communication upon the said matters, the King will be ready also to ordain his commissaries."
Pirton and Grymeston are not here called ambassadors, but were rather accredited messengers.
In consequence probably of the Duchess having agreed to treat, Sir John Marney, Kent, Pirton, Grimston, and Wodehouse, were appointed ambassadors, commissioners, procurators, and special messengers, to arrange the quarrels " sine strepitu et flgura judicii."" The instructions they received are printed above.
On the 28th July the King appointed no less than fifteen persons, the chief of whom were Lord Dudley, Thomas Kent, and Thomas Thirland, as ambassadors to treat for commercial intercourse, and especially concerning the sale of wools and fleeces, and at the same time Lord Dudley and Thomas Kent were appointed ambassadors to treat concerning the reparation of infractions of the truce.
In these appointments the name of Edward Grimston is not mentioned, and it is probable that he was otherwise engaged, having been sent from the King of England to the King of France. The relations between the two monarchs had become very unsettled in consequence of the taking of Fougeres by the English under Sir Francis de Surienne. That Grimston was sent to the King of
o
France about this time appears from the answer made by the Duke of Burgundy on the 24th July, 1449, to Charles VII. who had sent ambassadors to the Duke to ask his advice as to how the King should act towards the English, they having broken the truce.b
The Duke says that the ambassadors have told him " quo puis nagaires le roy avoit recues lettres de son nepveu dangleterre contenant creancc sur Edouart Grimeston et aussi plusieurs lettres de due de Sombreset," &c.
The subject of Grimston's mission is not given, but it seems to have been unfortunate as affecting his subsequent career, for we do not find him again employed in diplomatic affairs. He was about also to lose his patron the Duke of Suffolk, who, after being impeached by Parliament, committed to the Tower,
» Rymer, xi. 229.
b Reply of the Duke of Burgundy to the Ambassadors of Charles the Seventh, King of France. Stevenson, Wars of the English in France, i. 2C4.
462 Notes on Edward Grim$ton, Esq.
•
and released, was miserably put to death in a boat in Dover Roads, May 2nd, 1450. After the Duke's death, the Commons assembled in Parliament presented a petition for the removal of certain persons from the King's presence ; among them are the Duke of Somerset, the widowed Duchess of Suffolk, the Bishop of Chester, Lord Dudley, and various other persons including " Edwarde Grymston, late of London, squier," and begging that they may not receive any of their salaries from 1st December, 1450." It is probably to this time that may be re- ferred a curious petition in Grimston's own hand, of which the original is preserved among the records of the Earl of Verulam, and which may therefore never have been presented. It is in the following words : —
To the Kinge our sovereign lorde.
Moste Cristien prince and oure aller moste dradde sovereign lord, I your humble true liegeman Edward Grymeston, constrcigncd of necessite at this tyme to withdrawe my pouere pereone for drede of pcrsones that bene hasty and hote and list not to knowe nor undirstande the trouthe of my desertes, and not for none offence that ever I dydd seid laboured or was knowynge of yn wille thought or ymaginacion ayenst the weelez of youre moste noble persone or of your Realme yn any wise, Beseche humbly your Roialle mageste that for my true acquitell unto youre highenes ye like to foryiffe me, Allethougli I enhardie me by wey of meke supplicacion to write for my trouthe and declaracion unto youre gretc rightwosnes, By the whiche as lowly as ever didd true liegeman I beseche youre grace that my mcrittes may truely be undirstande knowen and so pupblisshed & shewed unto the gcncrallte of this your highe court of parlement, To the whiche I crye and beseche our mercyfull lord that alle knoweth that aftir my true menynge rightewosly undirstande I may have that I have deserved and none othirwise. And for as muche as I am enformed that by my goinge divcrsez tymes over the see by the highe commaundement and ordenaunce of you sovereign lorde and of youre fulle noble counceille, and specially yn this my laste viaigc unto youre uncle and adversaire of Fraunce, in the conceites of murmureux and misunderstandinge persone} I am noyssed and disclaundred with gretc blame and charge that I shulde receive on that partie grete and excessive somme} of goode, And ys supposed that I shulde labour knowe and be assentinge to thinges that shulde be hurt and preiudice to you sovereign lord and youre Realme} as yt ys scid, that godd dcfcnde, In the whiche viage} moste dradde sovereign lord and yn everich of theme by the fcithe and liegeaunce I owe to you and ever shalle I have allewey done my true parte laboure and devoire aftir myn instruccions yeffen me by thadvise of your noble and true counceille to execute and fullefille the charge} and commaundmcnt that I have haddc, And therof allwcy made my feithefulle and true Reportes to my lordes of your counceille, And yn esspecialle of this last right costagcux and aventreux vlage that I went unto youre seid uncle and adversarie by their allers ordeignnaunce and commaundement sore nyenst my wille saving for youre highe dis- plesaunce and their allers so as of recorde I profved grete part of my pouer goode to have bene discharged thereof at tyme and couthe not, The whiche seid viage I toke upon me and fullfilled my charga to my grete coste and laboure. And yn grete aventure and daunger of my lyffe as yt
» Camden Society, Trevelyan Papers, i. 60.
Notes on JZdtcard Grimston, Esq. 463
ys welle knowen, And alle the convey of my seid viage as welle the reporte and declaracion alle alange in what time3 I spake unto youre seid uncle and what answers he yaffe me as of alle the demaundes answers and comunicacions that I hadde yn any wise with him or his counceille word for word as ferforthe as I couthe thinke or ymagine dayly and yn continent I wrote theme forth- with of myn own hande to that ende that so myn othir charge} that by the ordenaunces and commaundementes before seid I hadde to the Duchesse of Bourgne I myght the rather and more spedely sende yt over to my lordes of youre counceille withouten delaye than to have abyden the lengthe of my comynge, So that by their highe wisdome thei might the more hastely provide for the remedies of that thereby mighte be undirstande was amys, And also that for my true acquitille the seid Reporte so writen of myn own hande might remaigne of recorde, the whiche by grete parte of my seid lordes was redde over alle alange and welle noted and examyned as I trowe thei bene yitt remembred, Of the which services at my commyng home my lordes alle yaffe me a grete laudc and thanke etc. And yn as muche, moste gracieux sovereigne lord, as I wote not whedir ye be remembred and have true knowlege of my seid declaracion I therefore presume and eraboldisshe me upon your grace and benignite herewith to sende the same propre declaracion so writen of my pouere hande unto your highencs, Besiching humbly youre moste royalle persone that of youre grace and pitee ye like to undir- stande the trouthe of my true service and menynge, And that ye like of your grate rightewosncs to commaunde and ordeigne yt to be showdc and redde with this humble request unto the lordes and communs beinge now assembled yn this youre highe court of parlement, And yiff there be any erthely man what so ever he be that particulerly wille say or charge me with the receit of any manere of goode on that partie othir than I have certified un to my lordes of your seid counceille that your seid uncle and my lord of Somersett yaffe me at my departingc Or ferthermore wille sey that I laboured spake procured or by any mene was prive or hadde communicacion of any otliir matere on the Franche partie other then by the seid declaracion I have truely writen as I couthe and at all tyme} as welle hereof as of myn othir charge} for you sovereign lord yn alle wise made my true reporte unto my lordes of your counceille Or that sithens I was borne ynto this worlde yn that viage or any othir I ever was willinge knowinge and assentingc to any thinge that might rightwosly soune or be taken to any manere hurt or preiudice of you moste gracieux sovereigne lord or of youre lande yn any wise to myn understanddinge. Whensoever I may here or have knowlege of any suche particulere persone and that yt like your highencs that I may be herde and standc yn suerte of my pouer persone from the rigcure of persones withoute cause or reson evillc disposed and advysed undir the proteccion of cure mercyfulle lord and of your grete rightewosnes I shalle not faille with youre noble leve as welle for my true liegeaunce as for the pouere worshippe of the blodc that I am common of beringe the same name and armes that I doo more than cccc yeres as y t may be proved, to comme and offre my body as youre true liegeman openly to prove and make goode the contrarie upon any suche persone that so wille or darrc charge me yn suche wise as ye wille yiff me leve and as the case shalle require. Besechinge therefore you of youre most ample and spcciall grace and semblably the goode wille of all that shalle here this humble request to accept my true feithc and liegeaunce to you wardes that with the grete mercy of oure lordc shall never faille, And that by the socourc and rclecffe of your grete pitee and rightewosnes and your peoples
464
Notes on Echcard Grimston, Esq.
true undirstandinge I your true humble subgette that wyllingly never trespassed to man on lyve but entended allewey my true service be not thus unrightwosly blamed nor withoute desert putt yn drede disclaundre and noyse to myne uttermoste reprooffe and undoinge. And that this myn humble and meke supplicacion and desire of iustice conceived and writcn of myn owne hande withouten advise or counceille save of godd and of my true menynge for my true acquitaille may be taken aftir my playne and uncolured writing at alle tymes. And so to be understande pubblys- shed and yiff yt like your grace enacted yn this present parlement at the reverence of godd and yn the wey of charite.
And for as much as for the causes beforeseyd and othir of goddes visitacion I nethir darre nor may comme to your highenes at this tyme yn my persone And that to the peoples undcrstandinge this shulde not be thoughte no feyned supplicacion the more largely to verefie and to bynde me to that ys before writen I therfore feirfully have taken upon me undir the proteccion of youre highe magnificence to signe this with myn hande and with the pouere scale of myn armes for the more credence and recorde.
"We next hear of Grimston as indicted with others at Rochester before the Cardinal of York, the Archhishop of Canterbury, and the Duke of Buckingham/ in August 1451, in connection with Cade's rebellion.
In the former petition Grimston states that he has withdrawn himself, and he may very likely have been out of the kingdom. Another and probably later petition is preserved among Lord Verulam's archives from which it would appear that he had been for twenty-two months in prison, and it may therefore very fitly find a place here.
To the Kinge oure sovereign lorde.
Please it you oure moste dred souereign lord of your moste specialle grace piteuxly to considre the lange endured and undeserved sorows dredes & trouble} with the inportables losse} of goode that causeles your humble true liegeman Edward Grymeston hathe suffred & borne to his utter- most undoinge & distruccion withouten the hasty relieffe of oure mercyfulle lord & of youre grete pitee & rightwosnes that by sum mene youre highenes like to ordeign and commaunde that he may be herd & accepte to iustices to answere to any thinge that hathe bene or can be seyd or leyde unto him, the whiche he hathe sued & offred him selffe to by the space of xxij monethes yn as large wise as ever did poure liegeman, but he ys so aloigned & delayed therfro that
• Ellis, Original Letters, 2nd Ser. i. 113.
Notes on Edward Grimston, Esq. 465
nethir by your specialle writinges nor messages to your juge} nor othire wise he can atteign therto by what menej nor for what cause it ya not undirstande Besechinge therfore humbly youre benigne grace that of your grete rightwosnes & yn tendir consideracion of the sorowfulle premisse} with many other adversite3 that your seid suppliant hathe lamentably suffired onely for lak of Justices that yt may like your highenes to commaunde your juge} of your benche straitly by your mouthe or by your specialle writinges to attende and hastely to procede to his deliverance So as aftir his arreignement by your specialle grace & commandes he may go at large under bailie upon sufHciaunt suerte to suche tyme & place as by your seid iugez or any of them shalle be lymyted & graunted for his deliverance And that for the sone expedicion thereof ye like hereupon to graunte and commaunde suche specialle lettres fro your highenes un to your seid juge} as shall be thoughte necessarie for the diligent spede therof So as of your grete pite and rightwosnes your humble true liegeman be not finally distroyed by no lenge delayes fro iustices at the Reverenc' of oure lord whome he shalle evermore pray for your moste noble astate.
This petition is neither dated, signed, or sealed, and may have been only a draft of one actually sent. It is in the same hand as the other.
We must now turn to the domestic relations of Edward Grimston. Among the papers in the Earl of Verulam's possession are some memoranda which appear to have been communicated to Mr. Warner of Lincoln's Inn, 12th February, 1599, by Williamson, a mercer dwelling by St. Magnus in London, on the authority of an old kalendar which would appear to have been in a manuscript which had belonged to the parish church of Eye in Suffolk. One of the entries seems to relate to the first wife of Edward Grimston, and at any rate has been considered to do so by the compiler of the notes ; it is somewhat obscure and is as follows :—
" Obitus venerabilis femine Alicie quondam uxoris E. Grimeston ab infanti excellente ducissa postea generose magnifice Margarete Reginse que etiam et virtutibus fuit induta et obiit 145G."
From a description of the tomb of Edward Grimston, which will be given hereafter, it is not improbable that the coat of this lady was Gu. three bars gemelles arg. This was a form of the coat of Bensted, and was also borne with additional charges by the names of Walshe, Inglos, and Thornhill. It was also a foreign coat, being ascribed to the families of Averton, Fosseux, Noyelle, S'. Cheron, S'. Julien, Toulonion, and Wyon.
Among the papers at Gorhambury is a copy of a deed dated 2Gth September, 38 Henry VI. (1459), which appears to be the marriage settlement of Edward Grimston with his second wife Mary, daughter of Sir William Drury by Katherine Swynford ; the latter was at the time of the settlement the wife of Thomas Cursun, Esq. This document is as follows : —
Hoc Indentura facta xxyj10 die Scptcmbris Anno Kegni Regis Henrici vi" post conquestum
VOL. XL. 3 O
466 Notes on Edward Grimston, Esq.
xxxviij0 inter Edwardum Gryraeston Ar. ex parte una et Thomam Cursun Ar. dominam Catherinam nxorem eius nuper uxorem Willielmi Drury Militia et Thomam Drury armigerum {ilium et heredem eiusdem Willielmi ex parte altera testatur Quod cum idem Thomas Drury se agreavit et concessit solvere eidem Edwardo et assignatis suis centum marcas legalis monetae Angliaa et iidem Thomas Cursun domina Catherina uxor eius et Thomas Drury ultra illas centum marcas se agreaverunt et concesserunt solvere eidem Edwardo et assignatis sive executoribus suis Quinquaginta libras legalis monetae Anglia3 ad maritagium Marie sororis eiusdem Thome Drury unius filiarum predict! Willielmi et domine Catherine Quam idem Edwardus (gracia divina mediante) ducet in uxorem. Quibusquidem centum marcis per predictum Thomam Drury eidem Edwardo impostea solvendis modo et forma quibus sequitur videlicet viginta marcas nunc die et tempore solemnisacionis maritagii predict! idem Thomas Drury eidem Edwardo solvet Et ad festum Sancti Michaelis Archangeli quod erit Anno domini millessimo quadringentessimo sexagesimo decem libras Et ad festum Sancti Michaelis Archangel! extunc proximo sequentem decem libras Et ad festum Sancti Michaelis Archangeli extunc proximo sequentem decem libras Et ad festum Sancti Michaelis Archangeli extunc proximo sequentem decem libras Et ad festum Sancti Michaelis Archangeli extunc proximo sequentem tresdecem libras sex solidos et octo denarios Pro qua quidem summa centum marcarum idem Thomas Drury inveniet sufficientem securitatem per separalia scripta ob- ligatoria pro qualibet solucione eidem Edwardo et executoribus suis annuatim ad festa predicta solvenda predictasque quinquaginta libras eidem Edwardo et executoribus suis modo et forma quibus sequitur solvend' videlicet quod cum idem Thomas Drury annuatim solverit eisdem Thome Cursun et domino Catherine uxori sue ad terminum vite ejusdem Catherine decem libras pro manerio de Lawnes in comitatu Suffolk Quod quidem manerium do hereditate ejusdem Thome Drury extitit Ita concordatum est quod iidem Thomas Cursun et domina Catherina uxor ejus et Thomas Drury solvent ad festum Sancti Michaelis Archangeli proximo futurum eidem Edwardo sive assig- natis suis quinquc marcas legatis monete partem de predicta annuali redditu decem librarum eidem domino Catherine pro prcdicto manerio de Lawnes solvenda et ad festum Sancti Michaelis Archangeli ad tune proximo sequentem quinque marcas Et sic de anno in annum ad idem festum Sancti Michaelis Archangeli quinque marcas quousque predicta summa quinquaginta librarum plcnarie fuerit persoluta Pro qua quidem summa quinquaginta librarum eidem Edwardo et executoribus suis solvenda modo et forma superius recitatis inter partes predictas concordatum est Quod Johannes Clopton Armiger et omnes alii si qui fuerint ad usum predicte domine Catherine sive Thome Drury de et in dicto manerio de Lawnes cum suis pertinenciis feoffati per suum sufficiens scriptum sigillatum dabunt et concedent eidem Edwardo et assignatis suis quondam annualem redditum quinque marcarum annuatim exeuntem de predicto manerio cum suis pertinenciis habendum et percipiendum eidem Edwardo et assignatis suis quousque quinquaginta librae plenarie persolvantur Quod quidem scriptum facient et eidem Edwardo deliberabunt ante festum Nativitatis Domini proximo futurum Ulterius concordatum est quod predictus Johannes Clopton nee aliquis sive aliqui corum qui de dicto manerio cum suis pertinenciis sunt feoffati permittent seu permittet aliquod recuperari per breve de forma donacionis indiscender sive per aliquod nliud breve ad sectam predict! Thome Drury sive alicujus alia? persona? versus ipsos sive aliquem eorum sive aliquo alio modo extra eorum possessionem manerium predictum recuperare sive de- \olvere quousque predict® quinquaginta librae modo et forma antea recitatis intcgre persolvantur Et
Notes on Edward Grimston, Esq. 467
ad omnes istas convencioncs ex parte predictorum Thome Cursun et Domine Catherine et Thome Drury bene et fideliter perimplendum iidem Thomas Cursun et Thomas Drury per separalia sua scripta obligatoria de dato presencium separatim teneantur eidem Edwardo in centum libras sterlingorum Qui quidem Edwardus pro se et executorib'us suis concedit quod si omnes convenciones et soluciones ex parte predictorum Thome Cursun et Domine Catherine et Thome Drury sint integre solutae et perimplete; quod tune predicts separalia scripta obligatoria centum librarum vacua sint et quodlibet eorum sit vacuum et nullius valoris. In cuius rei testimonium partes predictse sigilla sua alternatim apposuerunt. Data die et anno supradictis.
By this marriage Grimston not only became in some measure connected with the house of Lancaster, hut also with the Duke of Suffolk, if there he any truth in the surmise that Philippa Chaucer, wife of the poet, was sister to Katherine Swinforcl, Duchess of Lancaster, William De le Pole being grandson of Philippa Chaucer, and Mary Grimston great-grandaughter of the Duchess of Lancaster.
By his marriage with Mary Drury Edward Grimston had a numerous progeny, five sons and three daughters, who are thus noticed in the memoranda above alluded to.
John, the first gotten sonne of Edwarde Grimeston, Esquier, had of Mary his wief that was daughter to Wittm Drury, Knight, and of his wief dame Katheryn Swynforde, daughter of Sr Thomas Swynford that was sonne to Sr Norman Swynford, that was husband to Dame Katheryn Swynford that was Duchesse of Lancaster, was borne the xxist daye of Aprill aboute viij of the clocke in the mornyng, the yeare of our Lorde 1461, the dominicall letter D.
Edward, the second sonne of Edward Grimeston, Esquire, and of the said Marie, was borne the xxiiijth daie of Marche our Ladyes even the annunciation quarter of the hower before ix of the clock at night, the year of or Lorde 1461, the dominicall letter C.
Thomas, the thirde sonne of Edwarde Grymeston and Mary beforesaide, was borne the fyfth daye of Julie before ij of the clocke in the mornyng, the yeare of our Lorde 1463, the dominicall letter B.
John, the iiijth sonne of the saide Edward and Mary, was borne the vith daie of August at fower of the clocke in the mornyng, the yeare of our Lorde 1464, the dominicall lettre G.
Christopher, the vth sonne of the said Edward and Marie, was borne litell before v of the clock at nyght, the thirde day of Jule, the yeare of our Lorde 1466, the dominicall lettre F.
Anne, the first daughter of the said Edward and Marie, was borne the xxvilh daie of Jule, Sl Ann daye, midhower betwixt viij and ix of the clocke in the mornyng, the yeare of or Lorde 1467, ye dominicall letter G.
Elizabeth, the second daughter of the saide Edward and Marie, was borne the xvijtu daye of November at vij of the clock in the mornyng, the yeare of our Lorde 1468, ye dominicall letter B.
Alice, the thirde of the said Edwarde and Marie, was borne the xvth daie of February betwixt two and three after none, the yeare of or Lorde 1469, the dominicall letter G.
And the said Marie, mother to all thes children before written, in her yonge and beavtevous
3o2
468 Notes on Edward Grimston, Esq.
yeares of xxvij passed christienly and devoutly to our Lordes mercy the vij daye of Marche then next following, in the yeare of our Lorde after the olde counte of England 1469, on Ashe Wedensdaye.
In a manuscript volume of the seventeenth century, preserved in the library of Lord Dacre, at the Hoo, lettered Reyce's account of Suffolk, no doubt by Robert Reyce, of Preston, in Suffolk, are some notes on the church at Thorndon, among which is the following description of the tomb of Mary Grimston (p. 218).
" These be the armes of Dame Katherine Sewynforde sometymes Dutches of Lancaster that by Sr Norman Sewynforde had a sonne and heire Sr Thomas Sewynforde knighte father to dame Katherine wyfe to Sr Wylliam Drury Knighte the which Sr Wylliam Drury and dame Katherine amonge others had Marye the wyfe of Edward Grimeston Esqre whom God had endewed with greate vertue and bewtye and is heere interred the 6 daye of Marche An" 1469 on whose sowle God have mercy. Amen.
" Beneathe this Epitaphe lieth, in Brasse, the forme of a humane bodye in a wyndynge sheete, neere the which are eight children kneelinge, whereof 5 are bareheaded as sonnes and 3 in mourninge whooddes, all in brasse. Upon the very hiest parte of all was a greate escocheon quarterly of John of Gawnte as France and Englaude, over all a lambeaux of 3 poynts ermyn empaled Sewyn- forde, arg1 upon a chevron sable 3 bores heds coupped or. Somewhat lower was a single escocheon of Grimeston, argent upon a fesse sable 3 rowells or, in the canton poynte one ermyn. Upon the seconde corner Sewynforde as before. Upon the thirde corner beneathe Grymeston as before empaled Drurye arg' upon a cheefe verte 2 moollets or, pierced gules. Upon the 4th corner beneathe Druery as before empaled Sewynford as before. Underneathe this corpes and eight children kneelinge was this wrytten, c Orate pro anima Marie Grimeston.' '
The memoranda copied by Mr. Warner and already alluded to continue as follows : —
And the saide Edwarde Grymeston thelder was afterwarde wedded in the Abby Church of Eye (in the presens of my lorde the Duke of Suffolk and of my lady his wief syster to our soueraigne lorde King Edwarde the iiij"1), to dame Phillip the lady and barrones Koos, daughter to the lord Tiptot and syster to the Earle of Worcester, the xxvj"1 daye of August yn the yeare of our lorde 1471.
The Lord Roos was attainted 4th November, 1461, and died the same year, and his widow afterwards married Sir Thomas Wingfield, and thirdly Edward Grim- ston ; by the latter she does not appear to have had any issue.
Notes on Edward Grimston, Esq.
The following curious petition was addressed to the King after the marriage by Edward Grimston and his wife ; the original, which is undated, is preserved among the deeds in Lord Verulam's collection : —
To the Kyng cure alle most dradde liege lorde, —
Mekely besechethe and piteously compleynethe unto youre highenesse Edward Grymestone, Squier, and Philipe his wyfe, late the wyfe to Thomas late lord Roos, that by Reason of atteyndre of the same Thomas alle maners, londes, tenementes, Rentes, and possessions whiche were of the saide Thomas were forfaityd unto youre highenesse, by the whiche the saide Philipe was put from her dower and joyntoure that tyme to her due, amountynge to the yerely value of M1 marc' and more And youre saide highnesse, most graciously considering the nyghnesse of blode that the saide Philipe is unto your most roialle persone, that is to sey, doughter unto youre grete Aunte the lady Powys, that was suster unto the noble lady youre graundame the Countesse of Cambrigge, and noothinge that tyme had by Joyntoure or dower wherupone to lyve or to susteyne and fynde her and her childrein according to her honoure and worshipe Of youre most noble and habundaunt grace graunted by youre lettres patentes bering date the ix day of Decembre in the first yere of youre most noble Reigne unto John late Erie of Worcestre and other to the use of the saide Philipe certain manors in diverse shires, estemed to the value of vij° marcs. Of the whiche somme in a parliament holden in the vijth yere of your victorious Reigne there was resumed into youre handes certeyne of thoo maners to the yerely value of iij" marcs. After the whiche resumcione it lyked youre highe- nesse of youre most specialle grace to remember and consider the nyghencsse of blode beforeseide, with the honoure longinge therto, and that the said Philipe had nother dower, nor joyntoure, nor other goode to lyf by. And therupone, by thaduise of youre noble councelle, by youre lettres patentes under youre grete scale, bering date the xxx day of Juyft, in the viith yere of youre seide victorious Reigne, gave and graunted unto the saide John late Erie of Worcestre, and to hir for terme of her lyfe, for sustentacione of her and her childrein, and in lieu of her ioyntour and dower beforesaide, the maners of Uffyngtone, Wragby, & Estringtone, in the Counte of Lincolne, the maners of Orstone, Warsope, and Ekeringe, in the Counte of Notyngham, the maner of Setone with the Annuite of the priore of Wartre, in the Counte of Yorke, the maner of Adderley with Sponley in Shropshire, the maner of Estbourne with the hamelet of Hechingtone, in the Counte of Sussexe, that some tyme were longing to Thomas late lord Roos her husbond, the whiche maners with th' appurtenaunces be not to the value of cccc marcs. And semblably it lykcd youre highenesse, in the viii'h yere of youre Reigne, by youre other leltres patentes, to graunte the same maners unto Sir Thomas Wyngfelde and her, that tyme her husbonde, for terme of her lyfe, Soo that in tymes thoo maners that youre saide suppliauntes clayme and occupie have passed youre grete scale, of which maners noght exceding to the value of cccc marcs the saide Philipe in her pure wydowhode hath yeven and graunted to the mariage and sustenaunce of hir ij doughters11 the somme of Ixxx1' during hir lyfe, So that the residue therof will unncthe suffice to her resonable sustenaunce, with charges requisite and incedent to the same. Please it youre highnesse, the premisses considered , atte reuerence of all myghty god, by the advyce and assent of the lordcs spiritualt and tcmporatt and
• Elenor, who married Sir Robert Manners, and Isabel wife of Sir Thomas Everingham and others.
470 Notes on Edward Grimston, Esq.
Comens in this present parliament assembled, and by auctorite of the same, to ordeyne, stablysabe, and enacte that the saide Philipe from hensforthe suerly, for terme of her lyve, have, possede, kepe, holdc, and enjoye alle the forsaide manors and alle other the premisses with theire appurtenaunces, quietly and in pease, withoute interuptione or eny resumyng of them, or eny part of them, by eny meane hereaftre into youre handes, according to youre graunte last made to her therof, as is affor- seide, to have for her sustentacione aforehersed, In as much as she and her childrein have none other thing wherupone to lyve. And youre saide suppliauntes shall ever pray to god for the good prospirite of youre most roialle persone.
Nothing more seems to be known of the life of Edward Grimston, and in the manuscript account of Suffolk by Reyce, already noticed, we find the following account of his tomb.
" In a hie tombe enarched in the walle of the chawncell there lieth in armor, havinge an escocheon of Grimeston on cache shoulder, with this epitaphe,
Hie jacet Eduardus Grimeston armiger quondam de Rishangles Lodge qui obiit die mercurii viz. vicessimo tertio die mensis Septembris anno domini 1478. Cuius anime propitietur Deus. Amen.
" In the first corner above one single escocheon of Grimeston as before ; in the seconde corner above, Grimeston as before, empaled, gules 3 barres gemelles arg1 ; .... in the thirde corner beneathe, Grymeston as before, empaled, Drury as before ; iu the 4th corner beneathe, Grimeston as before, empaled, Typtofte, arg1 a saltier engrailed gules."
The tomb of Edward Grimston is noticed in Davy's Suffolk Collections (Add. MSS. 19,090, f. 156) as being within the communion rails ; the inscription which had been on the edge of the slab of the altar-tomb had disappeared, and of the figure of Grimston a fragment only — " his head and breast with his arms on his shoulders still remains in the church chest." Of the four shields at the corners of the slab the two upper ones alone remained.
Observations on the Portrait of Edward Grimston, and other Portraits of the same period. By GEORGE SCHARF, Esq. F.S.A. in a Letter to W. J. Thorns, Esq. F.S.A.
National Portrait Gallery, 18th June, 1863.
DEAR MR. THOMS,
I have carefully examined the very interesting portrait of Edward Grimston which the Earl of Verulam has been good enough to send to our Society for examination. I am glad to hear that his Lordship intends to have the surface, both back and front, protected by glass.
This picture is one among the very few known examples of early English portraiture produced by artists of decided eminence. In one respect it stands alone in English portraiture, being a solitary instance, for the fifteenth century, of a picture having the date, the name of the painter, and the person represented equally well defined. The dated signature of Petrus Christus, combined with the shield of Grimston at the back, clearly establish this fact.
Two other examples, nearly approaching this in importance, but without affording the combination of date with names of subject and painter, deserve to be noticed. They both belong to the school of Van Eyck, and represent English characters.
The first, also attributed to Petrus Christus, is in the Gallery at Berlin (No. 532 of Dr. Waagen's Catalogue), and represents a young lady of the Talbot family. The name of the painter, " Opus Petri Christophori," was originally inscribed on the frame, but has been since destroyed."
• Dr. Waagen adds, in a note at page 76 of his Handbook of German and Flemish Painting, 8vo. I860, " on the cotemporary but now lost frame was an inscription telling the name of the painter and that of the person portrayed." This is a further instance of the disadvantage of merely inscribing signatures on picture frames, manifested also in the works of Joannes Corvus, in the portrait, for example, of Fox Bishop of Winchester, described in the Archceologia, vol. xxxix. page 47.
472 On the Portrait of Edward Grimston,
The Berlin picture, also on wood and measuring 11 by 9 German inches, is so similar in size and general treatment as to have almost the appearance of being intended as a companion to the Grimston picture. The lady is seen, nearly to the waist, with the face turned in f to the left with the eyes fixed on the spectator. She wears a tall black cap, and a portion of the veil connected with it passes close under her chin, and leaves the neck bare ; her hair is entirely concealed; the hands are not seen; she wears a necklace, and her dress is trimmed at the upper part with white fur ; the sleeves are of blue velvet, fitted very tightly to the shoulders. The background represents the plain wall of a room, with panelling round the lower part of it as in the Grimston picture. No coat of arms or inscription is now observable. The light falls on the countenance from the left-hand side, the reverse of the treatment adopted in Lord Verulam's painting. Crowe and Cavalcaselle, in their Flemish Painters, 1857, (p. 121) ob- serve, in speaking of this picture, the circumstance of " its soft and clear tones differing from the known examples of the painter's manner." '
The other example which I would cite is at Chiswick House, and belongs to the Duke of Devonshire. In point of art it is by far the best, although wanting both the date and signature of the painter. The persons depicted are, however, clearly defined by the introduction of shields of arms. The figures are Sir John Donne and his wife Elizabeth Hastings, accompanied by their daughter, kneeling in adoration before the Virgin holding the Infant Saviour.
Notwithstanding the prominence of the armorial bearings of a different family, the picture was received into the Devonshire collection as a representation of Lord Clifford and his lady by Van Eyck. In Dodsley's London and its Environs, 1701, vol. ii. page 122, it is thus described : " Lord Clifford and his family, painted in 1444 by John Van Eyk, called John of Bruges." The same is repeated in the English Connoisseur, 1766, vol. i. page 38. Horace Walpole thus perpetuates this error in his Anecdotes of Painting, page 32 of the quarto edition, 1798 : " There is an old altar-table at Chiswick representing the Lord Clifford and his lady kneeling. Van Eyck's name is burnt in on the back of the board."
Dr. Waagen was the first to form a correct estimate of the artistic merits of the
" I regret that I did not subsequently inquire from my much-esteemed friend the late director of the Berlin Gallery whether the back of the panel had ever been examined to ascertain if there are traces of any heraldic device or inscription ou it.
' This, if actually the case, would be a very unusual method for artists of this school to adopt in signing their pictures. I subsequently examined the back of the panel, September 1865, and found the name IOHAKES VAN ETCK clumsily written across the centre in black ink. — G. S.
and other Portraits of the same period. 473
picture, and to assign it to a successor of Van Eyck, possibly Hans Memling.* Subsequently, in his Handbook of German and Flemish Painting, 1860, page 100, he unhesitatingly accepts it as the work of Memling, and pronounces it "in every respect one of the finest works of the master."
The error of nomenclature was still further spread by two engravings of the Knight and his Lady from a repetition of this portion of the picture published by J. Thane in 1793, under the title, " George Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury and his Countess Anne, from an ancient painting on board in the possession of John Thane."
It was, however, reserved for our learned colleague, Mr. John Gough Nichols, to recover the true significance of the picture, and to point out those to whom the portraits could alone refer. This was done in a very interesting communica- tion to the Gentleman's Magazine for November, 1840, page 489, under the initials J. G. N."
Walpole, in his Anecdotes, mentions several other early portraits of distinguished historical personages, likewise attributable to artists of eminence, but unfortunately their authenticity as portraits cannot be maintained. He purchased at Mr. Ives's sale, June 4th, 1779, part of an old altar-piece, said to have come from the Abbey of St. Edmundsbury ; the separate compartments of which relate to the subject of the Nativity, combining full-length figures of patron saints and a kneeling one of the donor of the picture.
A shield of arms clearly indicates a connection with Sir Robert Tate, Lord Mayor of London in 1488, who married Margery Wood. In these figures the fertile imagination of Walpole perceived Humphrey, the good Duke of Gloucester ; Henry Beaufort, Cardinal of Winchester ; and John Kempe, Arch- bishop of Canterbury !
The figures called Beaufort and the Duke of Gloucester are engraved under these names by Parker and Gardiner in Harding's Shakespeare, 1791. Wal- pole had the panels " split " into two, and entrusted them to Bonus in Oxford R-oad " to repair only and not repaint them." They were purchased at the Strawberry Hill sale in 1842, and exhibited at the British Institution in 1853 by the Duke of Sutherland.0 The same characters were supposed by Walpole to
• Art and Artists in England, 1838, vol. i. p. 268.
b For subsequent observations on this picture, which was No. 18 of the 1866 Portrait Exhibition at South Kensington, and attributed to Van Eyck, see a valuable paper by Mr. James Weale in Notes and Queries for December 3rd, 1864, page 452.
They were No. 27 of the 1866 Portrait Exhibition at South Kensington, and there described in the VOL. XL. 3 P
474 On the Portrait of Edward Grimston,
have been repeated in a picture of a royal marriage, also at Strawberry Hill, and published by him in his Anecdotes of Painting as the Marriage of Henry Sixth. The figure of the Queen, engraved by Sheneker as Margaret of Anjou, appears in Harding's Shakespeare. This picture was also exhibited by the Duke of Sutherland at the British Institution in 1853," and subsequently at the 1866 Portrait Exhibition, No. 16 of the Catalogue. See the Gentleman's Magazine for 1842, and the Athenaeum for same year, page 318.
This has proved to Walpole the source of several great historical portraits similar in quality to the preceding. Here again he finds Archbishop Kempe, the Duke of Gloucester, the Queen of Naples mother of Queen Margaret, the Duke and Duchess of Bedford, and the Marquis of Suffolk. None of these are supportable by internal evidence. Walpole deliberately says, "The portraits of Duke Humphrey and Archbishop Kempe have been authenticated by two others of the same persons which formed part of an altar-piece at St. Edmundsbury, and are now at Strawberry Hill."
Another picture, also at Strawberry Hill, which Walpole, in his Anecdotes of Painting, page 50, vol. iii. of the 4to. edition, 1798, mentions as a " celebrated picture by Mabuse," formerly at Easton Neston, has afforded an additional portrait to Harding's Shakespeare. It was engraved by Parker as the " Earl of Richmond, afterwards King Henry the Seventh." This title is somewhat difficult to reconcile, since the personage therein represented is already King, for he wears an arched regal crown. The entire picture was engraved under Walpole's own auspices for his Anecdotes of Painting, as " The Marriage of Henry VII. and Elizabeth of York, by Mabuse," vol. ii. page 461 of 4to. edition.
The last instance of false portraiture to which I shall advert is the picture obtained by Horace Walpole from Cosway and erroneously denominated the children of Henry the Seventh.1" This picture certainly belongs to the school of Mabuse, and, as I have already shown, represents the three children of the King of Denmark. See Archceologia, vol. xxxix. page 260.
In the foregoing instances, the names of the persons represented occupy the first place, and, whether or not correctly, have been very positively asserted.
following terms : " Altar-piece, in the wings of which the Duke of Gl&ucester is represented kneeling, and in character of a pilgrim." " The mitred figure is John Kempe."
• It is a good Flemish picture belonging to the close of the fifteenth century. The bridegroom is not royal, has an aged and careworn face, with a glory round the head, as in Raphael's well known Sposalizio at Milan. The ceremony, seen through an arch, takes place in an open space in front of a church.
" Lord Orford's Works, 4to. 1798, vol. ii. p. 512.
and other Portraits of the same period. 475
The following case is of an opposite character, and consists of the mere mention of a name and no picture ; but it leads to some curious illustration of the pur- poses to which art was applied, and also of the opinion then held as to its capa- •bility and requirements.
"We have some circumstantial records of an artist having been entrusted in the year 1442 with the delicate task of painting the portrait of three young ladies to guide our youthful monarch Henry VI. in the choice of a wife. Unfortunately the portraits themselves are not known to be in existence; but the instruc- tions given by the King to the painter are so quaint and curious that they deserve to be transcribed. Even the patronymic name of the artist is unknown. He merely appears as Hans, most probably a German or Fleming, and is described in a letter to De Batutz, quoted in Thomas Beckington's journal, as a very com- petent artist. The instructions given by the King, July 1442, to his agents, run thus : —
" At your first commyng thider, in al haste possible, that ye do portraie the iii doughters in their kertelles simple, and their visages lyk as ye see, their stature and their beaulte and color of skynne and their countenaunces, with al maner of features ; and that one be delivered in al haste with the said portratur to bring it unto the Kinge, and he t'appointe and signe which hym lyketh ; and therupon to sende you word how ye shall be governed." Journal by one of the suite of Thomas Beckington, A.D. MCCCCXLII. by Nicholas Harris Nicolas, Lond. 1828, page 10.
Hull, who formed part of the mission, having brought from England an artist named Hans or Hansa, to paint the likenesses of the daughters of the Count of Armagnac, Sir Robert Roos wrote to the Count on the 3rd of November, stating that he had sent Hans to him, and begged that he would cause the business to be hastened.
On the 22nd of November, John de Batutz, Archdeacon of St. Antonin and Canon of Rodez, wrote to the Ambassadors, thus describing the progress of the picture.
" As soon as Hansa had arrived, which he did safely, by the grace of God, ho diligently applied himself to the object for which he came, namely, the three pictures or likenesses ; and such have been his zeal and assiduity in the work, that with the help of God we hope quickly to return him to you. Within four days, or little more, the first of the three portraits will be upon the canvas (linthes impresserit), and the rest he will despatch still more quickly, as he will have the whole of the materials ready provided. To the utmost of my power I
476 On the Portrait of Edward Grimston,
will urge him to expedition, that we may the sooner arrive at the happy and desired consummation of our labours." Ut supra, page 75.
The artist's progress and difficulties are recorded in a letter dated L'lsle," January 3rd, 1443, from Archdeacon de Batutz : —
" Hans has finished one of the three likenesses. From the severe coldness of the weather, which has prevented his colours from working, he could not finish it sooner, though he laboured with constant diligence. He is beginning to pro- ceed with the other two, which, with God's help, he will finish in a shorter time, especially if the cold should subside, and give him greater facilities. But on this subject he has more fully written to you. I am constantly urging his operations, and shall continue to do so, as there is nothing on earth I more desire than to see them completed ; and as soon as they are, which will be shortly, he shall be sent back to you in safety." Ut supra, page 94.
It is not known that the pictures ever arrived in England ; the marriage was broken oif,b and shortly after King Henry received a portrait of Margaret of Anjou, his future wife, painted, through the intervention of the Earl of Suffolk, by one of the first artists of France.0
King llene, the father of Margaret, was one of the most distinguished painters of the time. His works, several of them still extant, are frequently referred to on account of their superior technical merit and refinement. His works are all more or less in the style of the Van Eycks, a taste which he probably acquired during his throe years' captivity at Dijon and Bracon, between the years 1431 and 143G.d llene dedicated in the church of the Carmelites at Aix, the capital of his dominions, a votive picture, which is still to be seen there. It is not only a monument of his piety but of his skill.'
Considering his high artistic proclivities and his skill in portraiture, it is not altogether improbable that the first picture which Henry the Sixth saw of his intended wife had been painted by her own father. King Rene was a contem- porary of Pctrus Christus. His daughter's marriage took place in April 1445, one year before the date inscribed on the Grimston picture now before us. Rene" is known during his imprisonment at Bracon to have painted on glass portraits of
11 L'Isle en Jourdain between Auch and Toulouse.
b Sandford's Genealogical History, ed. 1677, page 290.
c Miss Strickland's Queens of England, ed. 1852, vol. ii. page 170.
d Eastlake's Materials, vol. i. page 216.
e Mrs. Jameson's Legends of the Madonna, ed. 1852, page 114,
and other Portraits of the same period. 477
the Dukes of Burgundy, Jean Sans Peur, Philip the Good, and Charles, and subsequently his own portrait, for the windows of the ducal chapel at Dijon."
Eive years after the death of Henry the Sixth, Margaret was ransomed by Louis XI. and restored to her father in 1476. They sojourned at Reculee, about a league from Angers, on the river Maine or Mayenne, where the titular monarch had a castle that commanded a view of the town, with a beautiful garden and a gallery of paintings and sculpture, which he took delight in adorning with his own paintings, and ornamented the walls of his garden with heraldic designs carved in marble.b
Rene" died at Aix, July 1480, and his daughter, exhausted in body and mind, survived him only two years. Both were interred in the cathedral of Angers. Their monument was destroyed in 1783.°
The portrait on glass, published by Montfaucon while still existing in one of the windows of the cathedral of Angers, and copied in Miss Strickland's Lives of the Queens of England, was very probably painted by her father .d
There can be no doubt about the identity of the painter or the person represented in the precious little picture now exhibited to the Society by favour of Lord Verulam. The inscription on the back reads, |JettUS Xpt. me fmt &° 1446. It is preceded by the peculiar device of a heart transfixed by an instrument like a windlass.
A similar inscription with the date 1449, and the transfixed heart at the opposite extremity, occurs on a picture representing St. Eloy and other figures, in the possession of Mr. Oppenheim, a banker at Cologne. The inscription is en- graved somewhat coarsely in Brulliot's Dictionaire des Mbnogrammes, Munich, 4to. 1832, part iii. page 137, No. 953.
The Cologne picture belonged previously to M. de Sybel of Elberfeld, and came originally from the Guild of the Goldsmiths at Antwerp.'
The inscription has been carefully copied, and the first two words transposed, in Passavant's Kunstreise, Frankfurt, 1833, No. 9 of Monograms. Saint Eloy is seated in a shop filled with all kinds of jewelry and precious stones, weighing
• Crowe and Cavalcaselle, Flemish Painters, page 198. Strickland's Queens of England, 1852, vol. ii. page 165.
b Villeneuve de Bargemont, Marseilles, 1819; quoted by Miss Strickland. 0 Quatrebarbes, (Euvres du Roi Rene, 4to. Paris, 1849, vol. i. page 152. d Engraved in D'Agincourt, plate cxvi. and in Quatrebarbes, Texte, page 148. « Kunstblatt for the year 1833, No. 12, page 47.
478 On the Portrait of Edward Grimston,
some rings, which he appears to have sold to a betrothed couple. This illustrates the legend of St. Godeberta."
A picture, formerly in this country, in the possession of Mr. Aders," and now in the Staedel Gallery at Francfort, No. 402 of the collection, is signed ^Jrtrus Xpi ntp ffCtt, and bears a contested date of 1417. It represents the Virgin playing with the Infant Christ upon her knee, and offering him flowers, with two full-length figures of St. Jerome and St. Francis at the sides.
Dr. Waagen, in his Handbook of German and Flemish Painting, page 75, ob- serves, " the broad and beautiful cast of the draperies in this picture, as well as the style of colouring, show a feeling borrowed from Hubert Van Eyck."
Crowe and Cavalcaselle, page 119, say of it that the painter was completely Flemish. " His tones, though sombre were powerful ; his outlines somewhat hard. His flesh tints, though dark in shadow, were not unpleasant." Passavant described it as clear in colour, but with a brownish tone in the shadows, which is peculiar to the works of John Van Eyck.
The following extracts from a letter which I received from Sir Charles Eastlake bear directly upon the subject, and afford important evidence with regard to the true interpretation of the date : —
" You are, I believe, aware that there is a picture by Petrus Christus in the possession of Mr. Oppenheim at Cologne. It represents St. Eloi, the patron of Jewellers, and apparently a young betrothed couple, half figures, small life size.
" The abbreviated inscription ' Petrus Christi me fecit, A. 1449,' is on a parapet below. Before the name c is the monogram : .(see cut.)
" If I remember rightly, this corresponds with the monogram on Lord Verulam's picture. I am told it also corresponds with that on the small picture in the Frankfurt Gallery by the same painter, in which the date (doubtless originally 1447) had been altered before that picture was in the gallery to 1-417. d
" You probably know that Vasari in his account of ' Diversi Artifici Fiamminghi,' and also in his Introduzione, mentions the painter under the name of Pietro Christa.""
• Compare Crowe and Cavalcaselle, page 119.
'' Passavant, Kunstreise, Frankfurt, 1833, page 92.
c In this instance the device is really at the end of the inscription. (G. S.)
d Compare Eastlake's Materials, page 190; and Waagen's Handbook, page 75.
• See Vasari, Firenze, 15C8, pp. 51, 857.
and other Portraits of the same period. 479
He is also mentioned, among the distinguished Flemish artists, by Lodovico Guicciardini as " Piero Christa," in his Descrittione di tutti i Paesi Bassi, folio, Antwerp, 1588, page 128.
Two pictures by Petrus Christus are in the Berlin Gallery, Nos. 529A and 529s. They represent the Annunciation and the Last Judgment, and are signed partly on one panel and partly on the other " Petrus Xpi me fecit, Anno Domini MCCCCLII." In all these cases the painter seems to have uniformly adopted the usual medieval transcripts of the Greek letters X P in abbreviating his name. The only exception to this rule, and that merely on tradition, as the inscription disappeared with the frame, was in connection with the portrait of a young lady of the Talbot family, noticed above, where the signature is stated to have been " Opus Petri Christophori."
Dr. Waagen observes, Handbook, page 75, that in the archives of the cathedral of Cambrai, according to Count de Laborde, Les Dues de Bourgogne, Introduction, p. cxxv. f, the painter is designated " Petrus Christus of Bruges."
A picture representing St. Peter and St. Dorothy, when at the Manchester Exhibition in 1857, No. 440 of the catalogue, was attributed to this artist, and styled "Meister Cristoph:" but it has no signature. It was formerly in the Boisserde and Wallerstein collections, and has recently been presented by the Queen to the. National Gallery. The picture certainly belongs to a subsequent period, namely, early in the sixteenth century, and is rather German than Flemish.
The earliest mention which I find made of the Grimston picture occurs in Pennant's Journey from Chester to London, 4to. 1782, page 248. After minutely describing the historical portraits preserved at Gorhambury, a series almost unequalled in extent, variety, and general excellence, the author proceeds : "I shall conclude with a very singular portrait on wood, called Sylvester de Grimston, a noble Norman, standard-bearer to the Conqueror at the battle of Hastings, and afterwards his chamberlain. The picture is ancient and curious, but wants four centuries of the great period in which Sylvester lived ; neither did that age afford any artists that could give even a tolerable representation of the human figure, much less convey down a likeness of the fierce heroes of their times. I premise this, to show the impossibility of this portrait having been a copy of some original of this great ancestor. The dress is singular : a large bonnet, with a very long silken appendage ; a green jacket, hanging sleeves ; a collar of SS held in one hand ; his face beardless. On the back of the picture is Petrus Xoi. me fecit, anno 1416 (sic). The artist is unknown to me ; but the habit of the person is of the date ; for I find in Monfaucon's Monarchic Francoise several persons of rank
480 On the Portrait of Edward Grimston,
in the dress, particularly Philip le Bon, Duke of Burgundy. I do not hesitate to imagine that the Gorhambury portrait is no other than one of this illustrious prince."
Gough in his Sepulchral Montiments, page cclx. of the Introduction, published 1786, repeats the earlier tradition of the picture representing Grimston, the standard-bearer and chamberlain to William the Conqueror. He gives a facsimile of the inscription on the back of the panel in outline, on a reduced scale, but very inaccurately. The engraver has ignorantly followed some hasty transcript which had been put into his hands. The letter X, standing for Ch. in the name Christus, had been left out by the original copyist, who hurriedly supplied the omission by putting it in above, adding the ordinary caret sign below.
In a second edition of Pennant's Journey from Chester, published thirteen years after the author's decease in 1811, the correct name was first made known by the editor in a foot-note on page 335, as follows :—
"This portrait is now supposed by the noble owner to represent Edward Grimston, who was ambassador to the court of Burgundy in the reign of Henry VI. and as the family arms are painted on the back and front of the picture, the conjecture does not appear improbable. See Bymer's Fcedera, xi. 230."
The inscription was carefully facsimilied in a woodcut on the page following.
The following technical notes, which I have just made from the picture, may perhaps possess some interest as recording my impressions of the general ap- pearance and the peculiarities of the painting.
The picture is painted on oak, and measures 12 inches by 9 inches ; it is very mellow and brown in general tone, like the works of John van Eyck. The brown complexion and entirely bald face recall the characteristics of the husband in Van Eyck's well-known picture of two figures, a man and his wife standing in a room, now in the National Gallery. The shadows of the face are brown, harsh, and deficient in softness of feeling or modelling. The shadows cast on the wall from the beams of the room are cleverly marked and doubled as if caused by the introduction of a second light. The shadows from the black cross-bars are omitted on the curved side of the circular window.
The gold chain of large rings round his neck is painted solely with a pale opaque yellow, shaded with burnt siena and outlined in black. There is no actual gold on any part of the picture. The hand that is seen exhibits no ring ; it is fairly well modelled, but clumsy at the wrist, brown in colour, with a sepia- brown shadow : the finger-nails are carefully marked. His head-dress is one solid mass of black paint. There is no shadow on his green dress from the long pendant
and other Portraits of the same period. 481
of the cap or bonnet. The SS chain, apparently of silver, is beautifully finished. It appears to be double as it passes over his thumb. The coating of green paint on the back is much chipped and blistered, some portion of it actually separating from the wood. The green ground is dark and mottled with splotches of red. The letters are dark red. (Plate XXVII.) The upper row black-lined on the right side with black; the lower black-lined with very bright red lead. Query, has the red lead of the upper letters since turned black ? The small device pre- ceding the inscription is a bright red heart transfixed with a fine rod and cross pieces, like wires, of pure white colour.
There is a small touch of white like a crescent in the centre of the heart. The device is very delicately painted.
Believe me,
Yours very faithfully,
GEORGE SCHARP."
•
POSTSCRIPT.
Since writing the above several important particulars respecting the painter have come to light. These we owe to the indefatigable researches of Mr. W. H. James Weale, resident at Bruges, who published them in the Beffroi, vol. i. page 236, a periodical of great value in recording discoveries and elucidating matters connected with art and literature. A few of the leading points of these discoveries will doubtless be found acceptable.
Peter Christus was born at Baerle, a small village in the commune of Tron- chiennes, between that village and Deynze. Of his father nothing more is known than that he also was named Peter. Christus probably came to Bruges in 1443, since he purchased the right "of citizenship as a painter July 6th, 1444. The following extract is taken from the archives of the city in a register of the names of those who purchased the right of citizenship between September 2, 1434, and September 2, 1449, fol. 72, " Pieter Xps, f. Pieters, gheboren van Baerle, cochte zyn poorterscip upten vi sten dach van Hoymaent ; bi Joos van der Done, omme scilder te zine."
• The sketch which I made at the time, June 18, 1863, is here reproduced; because since that time, owing to the carelessness of a picture-cleaner named Anthony, nearly all traces of the device have disappeared. When Miss Hill made her very careful copy of the picture in water-colours it was no longer visible. I believe, however, that since the monogram has been partially recovered.
VOL. XL. 3 Q
482 On the Portrait of Edward Grimston, fyc.
In 1449, Peter Christus painted the picture which continued a long time in the possession of the Goldsmiths Company at Antwerp. One of the last members of the Corporation sold it to the late M. de Sybel. The picture, as stated above, now belongs to Mr. Oppenheim of Cologne. Mr. Weale has printed in the Beffroi, page 241, vol. i. a careful facsimile of the inscription reduced to the scale of one-half, which is here faithfully repeated :
The wings of the altar-piece in the cathedral at Burgos, representing the An- nunciation and Nativity, and the Last Judgment, dated 1452, passed to a convent at Segovia, were conveyed by M. Frasinelli to Germany, and are now, as already mentioned, in the museum at Berlin.
In 1451 the chapter of the cathedral of Cambrai received from Canon Foursy du Bruille, Archdeacon of Valenciennes, a " miraculous picture " of " Notre Dame de Grace," brought from the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Rome. Peter Christus made three copies of this picture in 145 i for the Count d'Etampes. One of them is now in the hospital at Cambrai.
In 1402 Christus and his wife, of whom no particulars are known, became members of the fraternity of " Notre Dame de L'Arbre Sec," established in the church of the Minorites at Bruges.
In 1163 he prepared for the city of Bruges a large representation of the Tree of Jesse, to be carried in procession, for which he received 40 livres 8 escalins de gros. In 1467 and 1468 he was employed in repairing it. The last mention of Christus on record belongs to the year 1472, March 19, when he attended in the cloister of St. Donatus to hear pronounced the arbitration of a dispute between the corporation of Painters and Peter Coustain, painter to the Duke.
Mr. R. N. Wornum gives, based on the same authority, a succinct account of the painter and his works in the last edition of his valuable text-book " The Epochs of Painting," 1864, page 145.
•;XVHI P
TOMB N° I .
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Section, on, A.B.
TOMB N? 2.
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Ground.' Plan,
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Kell Bro* lith London
TOMBS AT CHAIN TIFFIKA, MALTA.
XXXI. — Description of Ancient Rock- Tombs at Ghain Tifflha and Tal Horr, Malta : by Captain JOHN S. SWANN, F.G.S.
Read Jan. 18th, 1866.
I. TOMBS AT GHAIN TIPFIHA.
THE tombs at Ghain Tiffiha," which is situated on the west or Gozo side of Malta, three or four miles to the south of St. Paul's Bay, are all cut in the rock, and, though differing slightly in form and dimensions, have a general resemblance, as will be seen by the following descriptions.
Tomb No. 1. — The first tomb examined was nearly square, but with the corners slightly rounded (see the ground plan, PI. XXVIII. fig. 1). The dimen- sions of this tomb are about 6 feet in length, and about 6 feet 3 inches in width,b and the greatest height 4 feet 3 inches, which is probably somewhat in excess of the original height,, as a portion of the roof appears to have fallen in. The roof is slightly arched, as will be seen by the accompanying sections.
The entrance to the tomb is by a square opening cut into the rock to a depth of 1 foot 3 inches to 1 foot 6 inches ; it appears to have been much more care- fully cut than the interior of the tomb, and is certainly the work of people well acquainted with the art of stone cutting, and possessed of suitable tools. There is not the slightest trace of inscriptions of any kind. The bottom of the entrance is very nearly on a level with the bottom of the interior of the tomb, and the entrance faces nearly NNW.
• Ok is the aspirate, and the name is often written Ain Tiffiha, Taffiha, or Toffiha. [By an accidental error the name is misspelt Tiffi&a in the accompanying plate.]
b There was room in the chamber for the bodies to have been laid in the extended position, and I believe them to have been so deposited, from observing the position of the fragments of skulls at one end of the chamber, and of the phalanges and tarsal bones at the other. I was not able to inspect a tomb entirely undisturbed, the workman having pulled about the contents immediately they were opened, in search of coins or other objects of value, which however do not appear to have been found.
3Q2
484 Description of Ancient Rock- Tombs
In this tomb two skulls and a quantity of bones were found, apparently those of two individuals. The latter were very fragile, and required most careful handling, and they were unfortunately much broken by the violent treatment they received, from which cause also much damage was done to the lower jaws.
Quantities of fragments of pottery were also found; but in most cases the fragments were so small that it is quite impossible to conjecture the shape of the vessels of which they formed part. The following articles, however, were found in a very good state of preservation, viz. a two-handled vase of pale coarse pottery, 10 £ inches high (see woodcut, fig. 2), two jugs, of which one has a trifoliated mouth, and two small saucers, 5f inches and 7^ inches in diameter ; the latter has a spiral brown line on the outside, and is represented in the woodcut, fig. 9. These vessels do not show any trace of pattern, excepting a few stripes round them of darker colour than the general colour of the vessels themselves. The two small saucers are of a coarser material than the vase and jugs.
Tomb No. 2 is situated about three-quarters of a mile from Tomb No. 1. The entrance, which faces nearly SW., is precisely similar to that of No. 1, but the shape of the cutting differs slightly, as will be shown from the accompanying plan and sections (PI. XXVIII. fig. 2). This tomb presents the peculiarity of having a kind of ledge or shelf, about one foot high and one foot wide, on the side to the left of the entrance. Its greatest height is about 4 feet 3 inches, length 6 feet 3 inches, including the shelf, and width 6 feet 6 inches.
In this tomb large quantities of bones were found, but in such a state as scarcely to permit of being handled or moved. No whole skulls were obtained, but many fragments : from the broken state of the bones it is quite impossible to guess at the number of individuals who may have been interred here. The state of the bones in this tomb, and also in No. 3, is partially accounted for by the fact that the tenant of the land has made a terrace field in front of the entrances to these tombs, the soil of which rises to between two and three feet above the level of the entrance, through which water and the finer portions of the marl of which the field is composed have percolated, and rendered the bones, already much decayed, quite rotten.
Quantities of pottery, both whole and in a broken state, were found in this tomb, differing slightly in quality from that found in Tomb No. 1. The following is a list of articles found in a good state of preservation, viz. a large globular
at Ghain Tiffiha and Tal Horr, Malta. 485
amphora, 2 feet 1 inch high, of red pottery, apparently washed with a lighter colour, and with two painted lines across the body (see woodcut, fig. 1) ; a large round plate or saucer of finer ware than the others, 1^ inch high, and 9 inches in diameter ; a red two-handled bowl of pale red ware, 7£ inches in diameter (wood- cut, fig. 6) ; two small bowls, 5f inches in diameter ; two small plates, 3£ inches in diameter ; a one-handled jug, of thin dull red ware, 4 inches high (woodcut, fig. 5) ; three bottle-shaped vases with one handle each ; and two open lamps with projections for two wicks, and which show marks of burning (woodcut, fig. 7), each about 5 inches long.
Tomb No. 3. — This tomb is in the immediate vicinity of No. 2, and the entrance also faces the south-west.
The only peculiarity presented in this tomb is that a portion of it, about one- third, differs in width from the remaining portion. The dimensions differ slightly from those of Nos. 1 and 2, and the annexed rough ground-plan and sections (PI. XXVIII. fig. 3) show the dimensions and the peculiarity above mentioned. In the wall at the furthest extremity, on the right-hand side, there is a small niche about 3 feet 4 inches from the floor of the tomb. This is the only instance in the tombs at Ghain Tiffiha of there being any trace of a niche of this kind.
As in Tomb No. 2, bones were found in great abundance, but in a very rotten state, owing to the damp and to being mixed with wet clay — indeed it was almost impossible to handle or remove them without their falling to pieces. From the very large number of small vertebrae it would seem probable that one or more young persons had been buried in this tomb. The pottery was here also in a very broken state, but some tolerably perfect vessels were obtained, viz. a two- handled vase or amphora of pale pottery 12 inches high (woodcut, fig. 3), a small bottle of pale terra cotta 6 inches high (woodcut, fig. 8), a small lamp of the same form as those found in Tomb No. 2, a small bowl, and a broken cup.
In this tomb also was found a vase of very coarse material, which could not be handled in consequence of its extreme rottenness, with the debris of which were found quantities of fragments of calcined bones which appear to have been deposited in the vase. The dimensions of this vase appear to have been from 1 foot 4 inches to 1 foot 6 inches in height, about 1 foot in diameter at the top, and 1 foot 3 inches in diameter in its widest part about two-thirds from the top.
486
Description of Ancient Bock-Tombs
Tomb No. 4. — This tomb did not differ in character from those already men- tioned, and contained fragments of bones and pottery, but no whole skulls or complete articles of pottery were obtained.
None of the above excavations present the smallest trace of any inscriptions, but this may arise from the nature of the stone (coralline limestone) in which they are cut.
CiROUP OF POTTERY FBOM TOMBS AT GHAJN TIFFIHA.
II. TOMB AT TAX HORB.
Having heard that, during the progress of the works at the new cemetery at Tal Horr, an ancient tomb had been discovered, I visited the spot in November 1865, and examined the tomb, of which the following is a description.
This tomb consists of a vertical shaft cut in the solid rock, at the bottom and on one side of which is a horizontal chamber very nearly circular in shape, and
Vol XLPI.XXIX p
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Plan.
Scale % uuh. la a. feet
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TOMB AT TAL HORR. MALTA.
at Ghain Tiffiha and Tal Horr, Malta. 487
to which admission is gained from the shaft by a small rectangular opening, in front of which is a small trench.
The dimensions of the shaft, chamber, and trench will be seen from the annexed plan and section (Plate XXIX.) which is roughly copied from a more finished plan kindly lent me by the Hon. G. Vella, Collector of Land Revenues.
On the sides of the shaft four notches are cut, apparently to facilitate descent and ascent.
The shaft appears to have been carefully cut by a people possessed of good tools as well as an aptitude for using them.
At the bottom of the shaft were found the skull and bones of apparently a young person, and in the chamber the bones and skulls of two individuals, together with a few articles of pottery.
Having expressed a wish to submit one or both of these skulls to the inspection of my friend Dr. Thurnam, one of them was kindly supplied me by the Hon. G. Vella, to whose courtesy I am much indebted for the facilities afforded me in inspecting both the tomb and the human remains ; and I am also indebted to Dr. Cesare Vassalo, the Librarian of the Public Library, for the facilities afforded me for examining the pottery.
With regard to the articles of pottery found in this tomb, they appear to be of the same kind as those obtained by me at Ghain Tiffika, with one exception, however, viz. an amphora with two long handles. Its height was about 29 inches and greatest diameter about 9 inches ; the extremity of the pointed base was broken off.
Besides the articles of pottery a small bright blue nodule was found, about the size of a small walnut. Its colour is most beautiful ; but what it is or may have been is most difficult to conjecture.
A notice of the discovery at Tal Horr appeared lately in the Malta Observer, the writer of which supposes that the nodule may be a " decomposed sapphire ! " but the grounds on which he has arrived at such a conclusion seem to be open to considerable doubt.
XXXII. — On the Human Remains, and especially the Skulk, from the Rock- Tombs at Ghain Tiffiha and Tal Horr, and from other places in Malta. By JOHN THURNAM, Esq., M.D., F.&.A.
Read Jan. 18th, 1866.
THE human remains from Tomb 1 at Ghain Tiffiha comprise the more import- ant bones of two skeletons. They are generally well preserved, though very light and brittle, as would appear from the almost entire destruction of the animal matter. They are uniformly stained of a dark reddish-brown hue, and here and there incrusted with a tufaceous or stalagmitic deposit of the same colour. The bones from Tombs 2 and 3 are, on the contrary, of a pale or drab clay colour. The dark colour of the former is attributed by Captain Swann to the percolation through cracks in the limestone rock of water tinged with the highly -coloured soil with which many fissures in the upper limestone of Malta are filled. The Tombs 2 and 3, on the contrary, had become filled with clay from " Clay-bed No. 3," and hence the difference.
The skeletons from Tomb 1 are those of two persons of less than middle stature. One (A) I take to be that of a man with a stature of about 5 feet 1 inch, the other (B) to have been perhaps one inch less. The difference in the length of the bones of the leg and thigh in the two skeletons is very trifling. There is a greater difference in the length of the bones of the arm, which are at least an inch longer in A than in B. The length of the bones is as follows: —
A. B.
Eng. Inches. Millimetres. Eng. Inches. Millimetres.
Femur 16J 413 16J 413
Tibia . . 14 355 13j 349
Fibula . 13 J 343
Humerus . 12 £ 308 — —
Radius 9J 241 8J 216
Ulna . 104 260 9J 235
All the long bones of A are thicker than those of B, and have the processes and ridges for the attachment of muscles much stronger. The small size of the
On Human Remains from Ghain Tiffiha and Tal Horr. 489
scapulas of B, and the form and size of the respective ossa innominata, are all in favour of the one being the skeleton of a man and the other of a woman. The skulls, as received by me, were not lettered to correspond with the other bones of the skeleton. I have ventured, however, to assume that the larger and more dolichocephalic, which is also distinguished by more marked facial characters, really belongs to the larger and doubtless male skeleton A. The lesser and sub-brachycephalous skull attributed to skeleton B has not the sexual characters so strikingly marked, but that if found alone it might have been taken for that of a man. I have ventured to regard it as female. The special description of these two skulls follows that of the less perfect human remains from Tombs 2 and 3.
Tomb 2. — The bones from this tomb are much more fragmentary than those from Tomb 1. They seem to indicate three skeletons ; there are portions of at least five humeri. The principal bones appear to have been those of a man, woman, and child. Those which can be measured are a humerus and a radius.
Eng. Inches. Millimetres.
Humerus 12J 317
Radius 9J 237
There are the entire occipital and a considerable part of both temporal and parietal bones of the woman's skull, which was clearly of ovoid or even doli- chocephalic form. The fragment of another skull presents some post-coronal depression.
Tomb 3. — The fragmentary bones from this tomb, among which are portions of five humeri, and three lower jaws, show that in it likewise not less than three bodies had been interred. The length of two tibia, and of two radii, seem to imply a somewhat higher stature than for the skeletons from Tomb 1.
Eng. Inches. Millimetres. Eng. Inches. Millimetres.
Tibia 15 381 Radius . . 9| 247
Tibia . . 14j 374 Radius . . 9J 241
Here also it is probable that one of the occupants of the tomb was a man and another a woman. The sex and age of the third is doubtful. Among the bones was the sacrum of a small ruminant animal, probably a female goat or antelope.
We will now return to the description of the two tolerably perfect skulls from Tomb 1.
Skull A appears to be that of a man of seventy or seventy-five years of age.
VOL. XL. 3 R
490 On Human Remains from Rock-Tombs at
Almost all the teeth have been lost during life. The coronal, sagittal, and lambdoid sutures are almost entirely obliterated. It is a moderately dolicho- cephalous, or, more strictly, an ovoid or orthocephalic skull, the breadth being in the proportion of '74 to the length taken as TOO. The frontal region is narrow and rather flat and receding ; the parietals, broad in proportion to the frontal, have the tuberosities moderately well expressed, and slope away gradually to a tolerably broad, rounded, and prominent occiput. The mastoids are of moderate size and taper in form, the digastric grooves deep. Turning to the face we find a full glabella, the prominence of which extends to the inner thirds only of the supraeiliaries ; the jugal bones are but slightly prominent. The most remarkable feature in this skull is perhaps the great prominence of the nasals, which are directed outwards and forwards at an almost right angle with the glabella. The superior maxillaries are of medium size and have never been deep, though the senile atrophy and posthumous decay of the dental arcade prevent the exact determination of the depth of the bone. Tiie same circumstances interfere with any conclusions as to the degree of prognathism of which the alveolar portion of this bone has been the seat. The lower jaw, which appears to belong to this skull, is long and much thrown forward, with the ascending ramus square and broad, but not very deep. On placing it in position it becomes obvious that the prognathic prominence of the intermaxillaries and their contained incisor teeth has been somewhat considerable. The chin is narrow and rather prominent. Two only of the teeth remain in the upper jaw ; in the lower the left canine is now alone present, and is the seat of much jagged erosion.
Skull B is of smaller size, and is less massive than the former (A). Its facial characters are more feminine in appearance, though the mastoids are large, short, and tuniid, and the transverse occipital spine and inion are large enough for those of a man. The sex may be doubtful. I take the skull to be that of a person of about sixty-five years of age. The obliteration of all the principal sutures is much advanced. The proportions are sub-brachycephalous, the breadth being as '78 to the length taken as I'OO. The forehead is narrow, but less receding than in A. The parietals are broad and somewhat short, and present a considerable expansion at the temporo-occipital angles. ' Some degree of parieto-occipital flatness is visible, particularly on the right side. The occiput and base of the skull are distinguished by much ruggedness. The face presents a slightly promi- nent glabella ; the nasals, not at all remarkable for prominence, are implanted into the glabella at a very acute angle. The superior maxillaries are short and small, with the alveolar margins slightly everted ; when the incisor teeth were in
Ghain Tiffiha and Tal Horr. 491
place, a certain degree of prognathism was no doubt apparent. The teeth remain- ing in the lower jaw are very considerably eroded.
These two crania may be compared with three other ancient Maltese skulls, already known to anthropologists.
The first (No. 3 of our Table) is the celebrated skull sent to the late Dr. Morton by the distinguished traveller M. Fresnel, in 1847, with the following memorandum : " Cranium from the sepulchral caves of Ben-Djemma, in the island of Malta. It appears to have belonged to an individual of the race which, in times of the highest antiquity, occupied the northern shores of Africa and the isles adjacent." Morton, it is said, even before he knew where it came from, divined it to be Phoenician, from its great peculiarities and want of resemblance to any skulls known to him. He thus describes it : "In a profile view, the eye quickly notices the remarkable length of the occipito-mental diameter. This feature gives to the whole head an elongated appearance, which is much heightened by the general narrowness of the calvaria, the backward slope of the occipital region, and
the strong prognathous tendency of the maxilla3 The lower jaw
is large and much thrown forwards. The slope of the superior maxillae forms an angle of about 45° with the horizon. Notwithstanding the inclination of the maxillae, the incisor teeth are so curved as to be nearly vertical. Hence the prognathism is quite peculiar, differing both from that of the Eskimo and true African skulls."8
In the winter of 1862-63 the Ben-Djemma b skull was carefully examined by Professor Dr. D. Wilson of Toronto, by whom some measurements of it were
4 Meigs, Catalogue of Crania, 1857, p. 28, No. 1352; Nott and Gliddon, Types of Mankind, p. xl. ; Indigenous Races, p. 314.
b Ben-Djemma, otherwise Bingenna. Mr. Vance mentions a mummy case, " from a tomb in the Bin- genna mountains," resembling those found in Egypt, and which is preserved in the Library at Valetta. Archceologia, xxix. 235. The sepulchral caves of Ben-Djemma are a series of galleries with lateral chambers or catacombs hewn in the face of the cliffs, in the south-west of the island of Malta. There are other traces, besides the rock-hewn tombs, of the existence of an ancient town, though no record of its name or history survives. In his Malte et le Ooze, p. 21, M Frederick la Croix remarks: " Whoever the inhabitants of this city may have been, it is manifest, from what remains of their works, that they were not strangers to the processes of art. The sepulchral caves, amounting to a hundred in number, receive light by means of little apertures, some of which are decorated like a finished doorway. In others, time and the action of the humid
atmosphere have obliterated all traces of such ornament and left only the weathered rock The
chambers set apart for sepulture are excavated at a considerable distance from the entrance in the inmost recesses of the galleries and are of admirable design."
3a 2
492 On Human Remains from Rock-Tombs at
taken. Dr. "Wilson says, " The skull is no doubt that of a woman ; m it is narrow throughout, with its greatest breadth a little behind the coronal suture, from whence it narrows gradually towards front and rear. The lower jaw is large and massive, but with less of the prognathous development than in the superior maxillary. The nose has been prominent ; but the zygomatic arches are delicate, and the whole face is long, narrow, and tapering towards the chin. The parietals meet at an angle, with a bulging of the sagittal suture, and a slight but distinctly defined pyramidal form running into the frontal bone. The occiput is full, round, and projecting a little more on the left side than the right." I have added to the Table a few of Dr. Wilson's measurements of this skull. From these we learn that its length is 7'4, and its parietal diameter 5'1 inches ; the breadth thus being as -69 to the length taken as TOO.
Another ancient Maltese skull (No. 4), for a photograph of which I am in- debted to the kindness of Dr. A. Leith Adams, Surgeon of the 22nd Regiment, is preserved in the museum of the Public Library at Valetta. b It was dug up in the ruins of the celebrated temple of Hagiar Kim, near Crendi, during the exca- vations conducted by Governor Sir Henry Bouverie in the year 1839. c Un-
• I substitute "woman" for "man," as printed in the Canadian Journal for March 1863, on the authority of Dr. D. Wilson himself, in a letter with which he has favoured me The description of this skull is contained in his interesting and useful memoir On the Significance of Certain Ancient British Skull-forms, p. 8—12.
b I have to thank my friend R. T. Gore, Esq. of Bath, for copies of drawings showing both the face and the profile of a skull said to be derived from " a tomb of very ancient date at Malta in 1838," but which, on comparison with Dr. Adams's photograph, I cannot doubt to be, with it, representations of one and the same skull. I have briefly referred to both the Ben-Djemma and the Hagiar Kim skull, in Memoirs Anthrop. Soc. of London, vol. i. p. 1G4.
c These excavations are described by Mr. J. G. Vance in the Archccologia, vol. xxix. p. 227. The only notice of human remains in Mr. Vance's memoir is that in the following passage: " On examining the bones, which during the process of excavation were dug up in great quantities amongst the rubbish, we were led to suppose that the victims offered generally consisted of small animals, such as sheep, lambs, or even birds : there are, nevertheless, some which belong to a larger species of carnivorous quadruped, as also a few human remains ; from which we may infer that the life of man was on peculiar occasions required to form a part in a mysterious and barbarous ceremony." (p. 230.) Some additional diggings were made in the interior of Hagiar Kim, in 1852, by Charles Newton, Esq. of the British Museum, as briefly referred to in the Archaeological Journal, vol. ix. p. 299. The objects seem to have consisted exclusively of fragments of ancient pottery, specimens of which are preserved in the British Museum.
Mr. Khind's observations on Hagiar Kim are given in the Archaeological Journal, vol. xiii. p. 397. In the memoir of this lamented antiquary by John Stuart, Esq. (Edin. 18C4,p. 21) there is a brief reference to
Ghain Tiffiha and Tal Horr. 493
fortunately there is no precise statement as to how it was placed when found, beyond the fact that it was " imbedded in the detritus within the chief circle " of the temple. In the Malta Penny Magazine, No. 34 (May 2nd, 1840, p. 138), we are, however, told that " a quantity of quadruped and a few human bones were found interred in chamber 12, the most remarkable of which is a human skull, found buried two feet above the floor." A figure of the skull is given (fig. 4), upon which the writer adds, " it will be seen that it belongs to the Ethiopian family." It is thus open to considerable doubt whether the skull is of contem- porary date with the structure in which it was found. Though not such, it may still be the skull of an ancient Maltese. Several indeed have conjectured that it is that of a negro, not differing from existing varieties of that race. It would be rash to deny the possibility of the cranium being that of an intertropical African ; but a comparison of the photograph with the sketch of that of the skull from the Ben-Djemma caves shows, that its marked prognathism is only an exaggeration of that seen in the latter. The small horizontal circumference makes it probable that it likewise is the skull of a woman. Though so much more prognathic, it is of much less elongate proportions than that from Ben-Djemma.
Since this was written, the skull from Hagiar Kim has been forwarded to England for examination by Professor G. Busk, F.R.S., by whom it has been figured for his as yet unpublished Crania Typical Through Mr. Busk's kindness I have had the opportunity of examining and measuring the skull, which is no doubt that of a woman of less than middle age. The frontal is low and narrow, the superoccipital full and rounded, the inion not very strongly marked, the parietal tubers round and quite prominent, so that the skull is less dolichocepha- lous than it would otherwise have been ; the relative breadth being represented by '78. This is by many understood as a dolichocephalic proportion, though in a more precise technical scale of skull-forms it would be termed sub-brachycepha- lous. The skull is thin, light, and porous, and there is nothing beyond its prognathism to Avarrant any suspicion of a negro origin. In connection with the produced alveoli and maxillae, the great depth of the chin is its most remarkable character, measuring, exclusive of the incisor teeth, l-6 inch. The depth here is as great as that of the ascending ramus of the lower jaw, measured to the
this skull and the circumstances of its discovery. It is difficult to reconcile with the notice in The Malta ^[arjazine the statement of Mr. Khind, that " it was found with crumbling bones in a species of crypt in the megalithic remains at Hagiar Kim ;" unless he intends by the name of crypt the oval chamber No. 12, which is "31 feet long by 12 wide."
• Mr. Busk has also figured the skull from Tal Horr described below.
494 On Human Remains from Mock- Tombs at
lower edge of the sigmoid notch. The sagittal and coronal sutures are consider- ably obliterated, perhaps, as Mr. Busk suggested to me, the effect of carrying weights on the head. The usure of the crowns of the teeth is horizontal and moderate.
An ancient Maltese skull (No. 6), in the museum at Lund, is known to me from photographs of the profile, face, and vertex, kindly sent to me by the venerable Professor Nilsson, by whom I am informed that it was obtained from a catacomb in the island of Malta. The skull was found in a niche in a side chamber of one of these tombs, by a young physician, a pupil of Dr. Nilsson's, during his visit to Malta." It appears to be that of a man, the frontal region being broad and well arched. Though, like the other skulls I have described, it is slightly prognathic, it differs from them in being of a much more round and broad form. According to the measurements of the photograph of the vertex, its breadth is as '80 to the length taken as I'OO, a proportion which just comes within the brachycephalous categoiy.
Another ancient Maltese skull (No. 6 of the Table), from the rock-tomb dis- covered in the new cemetery at Tal Horr, has also been placed in my hands by my friend Captain Swann. This is the very fine cranium of a man of not more than fifty years of age, perhaps considerably younger. It is much larger than any other of the skulls here described, unless possibly the last, which I only know through photographs. It has a horizontal circumference of 21-3 inches (541 millimetres), and a cubic capacity of 100 cubic inches (1,638 cubic centi- metres). The forehead is of medium breadth, but well arched and elevated; the parietals are well expanded, and the occipital still more so. The norma verticalis, or upper aspect of the skull, is a very regular oval, and the measurements show that it has a relative breadth of '75. This is precisely the true oval or ortho- cephalic proportion, equally removed from the oblong or dolichocephalic and from the round or brachycephalic form of skull. All the great sutures arc very much obliterated internally, and the sagittal externally likewise. The glabella and supraciliaries are not very prominent. The facial bones are rather narrow and of moderate size. There is a slight tendency to prognathism shown in the eversion of the short dental arcade of the inte"rmaxillaries. In the lower jaw is to be observed the prominent and somewhat pointed chin, and also the oblique position of the ascending branches. An unusual number of the teeth, especially
m The skull is briefly referred to by Professor Nilsson in Die Ureinwohner des Scandinavigchen Nordens. 1863. p. 20. "Ich selbst babe einen Menschenschadel erhalten, welcher in einer Nische der einen (Maltesischen) Seitenkammer gefunden wurde."
Ghain Tiffiha and Tal Horr. 495
those of the lower jaw, appear to have been lost at an early period of life, so that the crowns of those which remain have been protected against the attrition to which they might otherwise have been subjected.
The historical ethnology of the islands of Malta and Gozo is by no means free from doubt. That they were settled by the ancient Phoenicians at a very early period, and long before the time when they fell under the influence of the Carthaginians, is an opinion probable in itself and entertained by the best modern historians. The only ancient testimony, however, in favour of it is that of Diodorus Siculus, by whom Malta is termed " a colony of the Phoenicians." It has been supposed that these islands had an earlier population of North African or Libyan stock, but of this, though not unlikely, there is no evidence. The late Admiral W. H. Smyth, F.R.S. and S.A., referring chiefly to the people of the lesser island of Gozo, says : " The present inhabitants are of athletic form, with a physiognomy especially marked by the nose and lips approaching to that of the Africans." The existing population of Malta is usually regarded as for the most part derived from the Arabs or Saracens, who overran the islands of the Mediterranean in the ninth and subsequent centuries of our era ; but this is by no means certain, and there are those who with Admiral Smyth conclude, that, " although Malta was frequently subjugated by other powers, the Phoenicians and Carthaginians became so identified with the supposed aborigines of the island that the subsequent intercourse with Greeks, Romans, Saracens, Normans, and Spaniards appears to have had but little comparative effect on the language, habits, or customs of the Maltese." b
There can be little doubt that the ancient rock-tombs of Malta are in many cases those of Phoenicians or their descendants, but that all are such is not probable, and, in the absence of inscriptions in the Phoenician character, we must proceed with caution in the attribution of any particular tomb to this people/ Within a recent period important evidence has been obtained as to the form of
• Lib. v. o. 12. See Kenrick's Phoenicia, p, 108; and articles "Melita" and " Gaulos " in Smith's Dictionary of Geography.
b Archceologia. xxii. 295.
c Au antiquary as cautious as the late Mr. Rhind attributes to the Phoenicians " some at least of the very numerous rock catacombs " of Malta. Archttoloijia, xxxviii. 2G8. He refers to Viissalo's brochure, Mnnumenti Antichi net Qruppo di Malta. See Art Journal, N. S. vol. v. Phoenician inscriptions are not quite unknown in Malta, though I am not able to refer to any from or connected directly with tombs. In the Malta Penny Magazine, vol. i. one is figured, aud a translation is attempted by Prof. Marmora.
496 On Human Remains from Rock-Tombs at
the Phoenician or Carthaginian skull from the exploration of tombs near Tharros in Sardinia, the identity of which is attested by inscriptions in the Phoenician character. For our knowledge of these tombs we are indebted to Dr. G. Nico- lucci :" they seem, though on a larger scale, to have much analogy with the rock- tombs of Ben Djeinma and Ghain Tiffiha in Malta. They are described as " dug in a soft calcareous sandstone, and present a series of sepulchral chambers of different sizes of an oblong quadrate or cubic form, which are approached by a narrow passage, mostly occupied by stairs cut in the rock. The opening to them is not so much as five feet in height, and is closed by a large rough stone, upon which at times sculptured figures are seen. The doors of the tombs are always turned to the east, and the bodies also look in that direction. The number of skeletons they contain are one, two, three, and sometimes four, constantly turned to the rising sun, with arms at their sides, or female ornaments and urns of varied forms, some of which present inscriptions in Punic or Phoenician." Near the entrance of the tomb in which the three skulls which were first obtained were found, was a stele or pillar-stone inscribed in Phoenician characters of the form used in later times, and perhaps of the second or third century B.C. The inscrip- tion has been read by the celebrated orientalist the Abbe Lanci as signifying " The place of repose of Jaghtam the son of Jubal." It thus appears probable that this tomb belongs to the period of Punic ascendancy in Sardinia if not to the time when the Romans had made themselves masters of great part of that island. On the other hand, there can be but little doubt that those buried in it, though not perhaps properly speaking ancient Phoenicians, were of direct Phoenician descent.
In his last " note " Dr. Nicolucci gives us the measurements of five crania from the Tharros tombs, with wood-cuts of three of the number engraved from photographs. All the skulls are shown to be of a long oval or dolichocephalous form, with a breadth of '70 to '75 to the length taken as I'OO. They are, more- over, remarkable for the projection of the nasal bones ; and for the great promi- nence of the tuberosity (upper scale) of the occipital. These peculiarities induced
• Mem. delta Reale Accad. di Torino, t. xxi. ser. ii°, 18C3.' See the abstract of this memoir by Dr. J. Barnard Davis, in the Anthropol. Review, London, 1864, vol. ii. p. 30; also Dr. Nicolucci's later "Note sur quelques cranes Pheniciens trouve's dans la necropole de Tharros, ile de Sardaigne." Bull, de la Soc. dAnthrop. t. v. 18C4, p. 703; t. vi. p. 103. In the original memoir are three full-sized plates of the skull. Our Maltese skulls may likewise be advantageously compared with another series of ancient crania from the Mediterranean coasts, viz. with those of the Japyges of Southern Italy, also described by Prof. Nicolucci, Sulla Stirpe Japigica, e sopra tre Crani, &c. Atti del' Accad. delle Scienze, &c. vol. ii. No. 20. 1866.
Ghain Tiffiha and Tal Horr. 497
Dr. Nicolucci to class these Phoenician skulls in the same series with the skulls of the other Semites, especially the Arahs and Jews ; an opinion which he supports by a comparison of the measurements of the skulls of Arahs in the collection of Professor Van der Hoeven. The Phoenician type of skulls, we are told by Dr. Nicolucci, is still very prevalent in Sardinia ; a testimony, he adds, the most eloquent to the numerical predominance of the Phoenicians over the other populations of this island in ancient times.*
If we turn to the Table of Measurements of the six ancient Maltese skulls described in this paper, we shall find them uniformly less dolichocephalous than the Phoenician skulls from Tharros. Of the six skulls, one is decidedly dolichoce- phalic (No. 3), two are ovoid or orthocephalic (No. 1, No. 6), two are sub-brachy- cephalic (No. 2, No. 4), and one is perhaps brachycephalic (No. 5). Though the variety is considerable, it is not greater than is often met with in people whose prevailing cranial type is indisputably dolichocephalic. The mean relative breadth of the entire series is '74, as is also that of the five Tharros skulls. The projection of the nasals, moreover, is even more striking in one of the Maltese (Ghain Tiffiha A) than in the Tharros skulls ; and the occipital prominence is a marked feature in at least three : viz. Ghain Tiffiha A, Ben Djemma, and Hagiar Kim ; though it must be noted that the two last are probably female. One or two of the Maltese skulls may be thought to be distinguished from those of the Phoenicians of Tharros by their prognathism. Slighter grades of alveolar or maxillary prominence are, however, by no means rare in series of skulls which are normally orthognathic ; and the presence of prognathism is itself noted by Dr. Nicolucci in one of the Tharros skulls (No. 3) : " Les arcs alve'olaires des deux uu\choires, projetes en avant, formcnt un leger prognathisme, qui devient encore plus Evident par la direction oblique en dehors des alve'olcs et des dents incisives et canines." On the whole, the somewhat considerable prognathism which exists in the Hagiar Kim and Ben Djemma skulls, especially the former, does not seem sufficient to exclude them from all claim to be regarded as Phoeni- cian. They may be Phoenician with an exceptional degree of prominence of the
* I have added to the table of measurements those of a sixth skull, supposed to be Phoenician, derived from a cemetery at Pinita in Sicily. The age of the tombs was proved by objects found in them bearing inscriptions jn Phoenician characters. The skull was obtained by Signer Italia-Nicastro. The measure- ments are those of the distinguished anthropologist Signor Nicolucci, who has minutely described it. Bull, de la Soc. cTAnthrop. 1865. t. vi. p. 701—707; t. vii. pp. 341, 537. Three other skulls from this Phoenician cemetery are named, but are, I believe, too fragmentary for measurement. VOL. XL. 3 s
498 On Human Remains from Rock-Tombs at
maxillary and dental apparatus, or they may be of a mixed Phoenician and Libyan or North African stock.
It is to be hoped that further researches in the rock-tombs or catacombs of Malta may disclose interments which will aid in the more precise determination of the question as to the cranial form of the ancient Maltese ; and, by the discovery or otherwise of inscriptions in the Phoenician character, may enable us to pronounce positively on the claim of that people to a Phoenician origin. Other means must not be neglected ; and the comparison of the fictile and other relics from the tombs may afford important aid. The fragments of pottery found by Mr. Newton in his excavations within the inclosures of Hagiar Kim, and which may be seen in the British Museum, are of a different and much ruder character " than is that of the vessels obtained by Captain Swann from the tombs of Ghain Tiffiha, the type of which is much more classical, and, I believe, Greek. b If of the Roman epoch, the portions sent to me with the skulls differ considerably from the Roman pottery of this country. Captain Swann inclines to believe the tombs he excavated to be Roman. We may perhaps assign them to a later date than that of the skull found in the Hagiar Kim ; but the cranial configura- tion does not lead to the inference of any mixture of Roman blood. Indeed, the skull-form, so far as not presumably Phoenician, is more readily connected witli the idea of ancient Greek rather than with that of Roman admixture.
P.S. (Sept. 13, 1870.) — Since the above was written, I have seen the interesting account, by Dr. E. Charlton, of the fictile vases from rock and pit tombs in Malta, presented by him to the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. (Archaoloyiu sEliana, N. S. 18G1, v. 131.) Dr. Charlton attributes these vases " to a period not later than two or three centuries before the Christian era," and thinks it probable they may be " of very early date, coeval with Phoenician rule in the Mediterranean."
• Considering their rudeness and barbaric form, they are remarkable for smoothness of surface. Had Dr. Birch's suggestion (History of Ancient Pottery, i. 155), that travellers should collect fragments of pottery from Phrenician sites and deposit them in European "museums, been complied with, we should be better acquainted than we are with the character of the fictile productions of that people.
b There is a strong resemblance in tlie form of the three-lobed mouths of the jug from the Ghain Tiffiha tomb No. 1 and that of the mouths of many of the pitcher-shaped painted Greek vases in the British Mu- seum. Mr. Franks assures me that the Ghain Tiffiha pottery is Greek, circa 200 B.C.
Ghain-Tiffiha and Tal Horr.
499
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XXXIII — On the Discovery of a Romano-British Cemetery near Plymouth. £y C. SPENCE BATE, Esq. F.E.S.
Read March 9th, 1865.
EARLY as the Romans were known to have visited the southern and south- western shores of England, it is remarkable that so little should be left to testify to it. Historians inform us that on the banks of the waters that flow into the Plymouth Sound there was once a Roman station, but no record or evidence remains that can establish the precise locality of the ancient Tamara. Attempts have not been wanting to fix it somewhat near the present village of Tamerton, but it appears to me that there is little to support this idea beyond advantageous topographical considerations. The remains, however, of an old Roman road are still in existence on the property of the Rev. Collins TrelaM'ny, which appear to suggest that the line by which those old travellers passed from station to station westward to the tin districts of Cornwall lay much nearer to Plymouth.
It is not, however, my object in this paper to endeavour to establish the locality of the lost site of the ancient Roman station in the neighbourhood of Plymouth, but merely to record the result and describe the objects found in some recent explorations that have been made ; first, with the desire to communicate what we do know, and second, that it may suggest to others that may be similarly engaged the desirability of the preservation of any objects that may be found during the extensive excavations that are being made in that neighbourhood.
In the spring of the present year, in order to remove any impediments that might interfere with the range of the guns belonging to the new fort which is being erected on Stamford Hill, the engineer found it necessary to cut away the slope between it and the sea, thus bringing to light the remains of an ancient burial-ground.
The hill in question consists of slate, and is situated betwreen the broad bay of Plymouth Sound on the west, and an arm of the sea that is known as " Cat- water," and flows up the estuary of the River Plym, on the east. On the north the land projects to some distance, and ends in a bluff hill of limestone known as Mount Batten, between which and the hill on which the remains were found
On the Discovery of a Romano-British Cemetery near Plymouth. 501
is a low grass plain with a gravelly soil, that previous to the erection of the Plymouth Breakwater was occasionally flooded at high spring-tides. On the east of Fort Stamford is another mass of limestone, a portion of the same rather than a separate hill ; on the south is the high land of Staddon Heights.
The remains were discovered in pits, generally about four or four and a half feet deep, one foot of which consisted of soil, the remaining three having been exca- vated in the partially disintegrated surface of the natural rock. These graves were mere hollow excavations, but the sides were sometimes sharply cut, especially where the soft slaty rock was firmest. The bottoms of the pits or excavations were deepest towards the centre, and they were filled in with the debris of the materials removed in making them, together with numerous large, rough, weather-worn blocks of limestone, that must have been purposely brought from one of the neighbouring limestone-hills.
The removal of the soil had been proceeded with for some time, and the work- men stated that they had occasionally found bones and pieces of earthenware. It was only, however, when they found some bronze articles, for which they antici- pated receiving a few shillings, that they reported the discovery to Captain Mog- gridge the engineer officer in charge of the fortification works.
As soon as the discoveries were known I was kindly made acquainted with the facts. Hastening to the place I watched, as far as practicable, the progress of the exploration. The graves were very numerous, and of an irregular form. In some instances several graves broke into each other, and in one case the extremity a appeared to be associated with others as if it had been made at right angles with them. When I first arrived portions of four graves were exposed in section, out of which had been previously taken some human bones, two bronze armlets, a bronze fibula, and some pottery. After my arrival some more human bones were found, evidently portions of at least three skeletons, as well as several isolated molars of the pig. Several pebbles from the sea-beach, mostly of one size, and fragments of glass, together with a vase of coarse pottery, were lying in one grave.
Upon opening a new grave we found at the bottom a bronze mirror in tolerably perfect condition, and traces of decomposed bones There was also discovered in this grave a bronze fibula. In other places the workmen found the handles of two bronze mirrors. Two bronze bracelets of different forms, a dagger or knife in a bronze sheath, portions of a bronze cup, and some fibulye were also brought to light. There have also been found fragments of many kinds of earthen vases more
• I say the extremity because tins was all that was nut dug away when I arrived.
502 On the Discovery of a Romano-British Cemetery near Plymouth.
or less perfect, portions of the human skeleton, and a considerable quantity of iron in a very decomposed state, apparently parts of implements of some kind.
It may perhaps be most convenient to notice the various antiquities that were discovered according to the classes to which they belong.
1. Bronze Mirrors. — The first of these that we found was lying flat at the bottom at the eastern extremity of a grave. It was nearly circular in form, but rather wide than deep. (PL XXX. fig. 1.) The front or polished surface of the mirror was placed downwards. The back, which was upwards, was ornamented with engraved scroll-work, as may be seen in the plate. In order to bring out more strongly the design, some portions of the engraving were filled in with numerous short striations, somewhat like basket work. The mirror was sur- rounded by a naiTow border or rim, which was formed of a separate piece, and folded over the margin. This specimen was damaged in many parts, particularly upon the under surface, and some of the edge was entirely eaten away; but where the rim was preserved the plate was in good condition, and retained the bright colour of the metal. With this specimen no handle was found ; but a second mirror, of which the very small portion that has been obtained seemed to shew it to have been similar, has the handle attached to it. (PL XXX. fig. 3.) This handle is cast in one piece in the form of a loop made by folding one half back against the other, and securing them in that position by a band, the two free ends being spread out to hold the mirror, which is received in a groove, and supported on each side by a scroll-work of bronze, much of which is lost, but the impression still remains upon the plate. This handle is four inches long. Another handle was also found of a more finished character. (PL XXX. fig. 2.) It will be seen by the engraving that it terminates in an oval ring, and was attached to the mirror by a grooved flange with rivets. No trace of the plate that belonged to this handle was found.
I am informed by Mr. Evans that mirrors of this kind are rare, and that only a single specimen with engraved back has previously been found in England.* It was discovered near Bedford, and is now preserved in the museum of ihe Bedford- shire Archaeological Society.
2. Armillce. — The next objects of interest that were obtained from these explora- tions are bronze armilla3. There were four of one form and two of another. The first (PL XXXI. figs. 1, 2) were formed of solid bronze flattened upon the internal and rounded upon the external surface. They opened by a hinge in
" Since writing this paper I have seen a drawing by Mr. Blight, of Penzance, of another similar mirror tliat was found near the Lizard.
• r,502
Scale
Full Size.
ANTIQUITIES FOUND NEAR PLYMOUTH.
On the Discoccry of a Romano- British Cemetery near Plymouth. 503
the middle, which was made by the insertion of a tongue into a deep notch or groove, and secured by a rivet on which the two halves swung. It is not quite clear what kind of clasp secured them when shut ; two of them had one kind whereas the third evidently differed. From the position of the rivets it appears that two were fastened by the projection of a central piece of wire that was caught with a spring clasp as in the bracelets of the present day. A third has a tongue very similar to that of the hinge but smaller, and this probably was caught by a spring also. The external surface of these bracelets was ornamented by embossed markings, consisting of a running scroll that looked like a series of the letter S folded into each other. The rounded portion, formed by the bottom of one S inclosing the top of the succeeding, is raised and perforated by two deep holes placed side by side. These holes are in some few places still filled by a dull red enamel, as were once probably all the rest.
The second form of bracelet, of which we have but two specimens, is much more slender and almost without ornament. Five embossed bands, of which the middle one is the largest, ornament the centre, which is the stoutest part of the bracelet. There appears to have been no fastening, and the bracelet is evidently formed on the principle of a spring that yields to the pressure of the hand as it is forced on the wrist. The bronze of some of these was very brittle, breaking with the slightest pressure.
3. Fibula. — Four specimens of fibulae were found, two in an injured the rest in a tolerably perfect state. These bronze brooches are of an arched form ; front and side views of two of them are given in the engraving (PI. XXXI. figs. 5 — 8).
From one of the latest opened of these graves we obtained a small bronze penannular brooch* (PI. XXXI. fig. 3), made upon a plan that has recently come again into use. It forms an incomplete ring, the extremities of whicli terminate in small knobs. The pin, which was movable, was made to pass between the extremities and impinge with pressure upon the opposite side.
4. Dirk. — A small dirk or knife (PI. XXXI. fig 9) was also dug out by one of the workmen. The blade of the dirk is still within the sheath ; although the latter is of bronze I am inclined to believe that the blade may be of iron. The form of the sheath suggests that one side of the blade possessed a cutting the other a blunt edge. The sheath is formed of two pieces of bronze plate fastened by the broader plate having its edges folded so as to inclose the smaller. A small loop of flattened wire is secured by three rivets to the margin near the handle, which thus enabled the implement to be secured to a belt. No evidence of solder is apparent in any part of this or any other article.
504 On the Discovery of a Romano-British Cemetery near Plymouth.
5. Bronze Cup. — A bronze cup or rather portions were found by the workmen. The fragments consisted of the bottom and a part of the rim only. The bottom is about one and a quarter inch in diameter, and the arc of the rim shows the top of the cup to have been about three inches in diameter. The edge of the rim is slightly turned out.
6. Glass. — Some fragments of a glass vase or bowl were thrown out of one grave. They are of a beautiful amber colour, the surface being only slightly iridescent. The fragments that we recovered are the bottom, a portion of the side, and a part of the rim. The bottom is about two and a half inches in .diameter, from which the base passes out in nearly a horizontal line, until it has reached the approximate diameter of five inches ; it then gradually ascends to the probable height of four or five inches, and as gradually increases in size until it has reached the diameter of six inches, when it is finished by a shallow rim formed by the folding of the edge of the glass outwardly back upon itself. The lower portion of the vase is ornamented by a series of raised lines radiating from the base ; but, instead of passing directly to the circumference, they flow diagonally outwards as if formed during the time that the plastic material revolved upon its own axis. Although in many parts the workmanship shows crudeness in execution, yet the vessel, as a whole, must have exhibited an elegance in appearance that is suggestive of the idea that it must have been the property of an individual of some pretension among his fellows of that time, particularly when we compare it with the quality of the pottery that has been found in the same locality.
7. Pottery. — 'With one exception, all the pottery that has been found in this cemetery is in a fragmentary state, nor is this to be wholly attributed to the care- lessness of the excavators, although, the excavations having been carried on by men working for a contractor under Government, they were compelled to pursue their labour assiduously, and were not permitted the time necessary to remove such fragile materials with safety from their positions in the graves.
The remains of a bowl of black pottery (PL XXXII. fig. 1) are of a coarse ware ; it rests on a circular foot about three inches in diameter ; from this bottom the base of the vase extends on each side until the diameter is about five inches ; at about four inches from the base, there is a small round depression on the inside near the upper edge, corresponding with a similar depression upon the outside, from which latter a groove passes as far as the broken edge. This marking is suggestive of a small horizontal handle having been situated in this position ; but, if so, there was no corresponding handle at the opposite extremity of the basin,
Vol X, p.504.
On the Discovery of a Romano -British Cemetery near Plymouth. 505
since the two fragments together complete more than half the diameter of the vase.
A second black vase (PI. XXXII. fig. 2) was found by Captain Moggridge. This is of much finer ware than the previous one, and much more thin in texture ; it is also of a much more elegant shape, though formed on the same general design. The foot-ring is about three inches in diameter, the centre of which is deeply excavated, corresponding with a convex elevation on the inside. From the ring at the bottom the sides extend on each side until the diameter is about seven inches.
Of a third black bowl or vase, one small fragment only has been recovered, but this is enough to show that the design was the same as the previous ; the sub- stance was a little stouter than the last, but less so than the first, and it differed from both in having a double embossed line half way up the sides. This, like the two previous ones, is very dark, almost black, not only on the surface but through the substance, a circumstance that I think must be due to the character of the clay of which the vessels were made, and not attributable to the muffling of the furnaces during the process of baking.
A very small vase, of a less darkened surface to the two previously discovered specimens, Captain Moggridge was fortunate enough to save from the uplifted axe of the excavator in a perfect state (PI. XXXII. fig. 3). The bottom is flat, and about an inch and a half in diameter. The mouth is about three inches in diameter, and the height is about four inches.
The form of the next vase is much like the last described, from which it differs in having a more sudden curving just below the neck; it also stands higher. It is of a red colour and larger, the diameter of the bottom being about four inches, the body of the vessel at its greatest width about seven inches, and the mouth about three ; the height is about eight inches and a half.
The next vase to which I have to draw attention differs in form and evidently attained a higher degree of external finish than any previously described ; unfor- tunately of this specimen but few fragments have been recovered. It consists of hard-baked clay of a coarse character ; the general colour is red, but in some places the external surface is blackened, probably due to the muffling of the furnace during the process of baking. The height is about four inches and a half; it stands upon a circular base about three inches in diameter, and which raises the vessel from the ground about an inch ; the bottom of the vase within is flat, the sides gracefully rounded outwards, then inwards, and again outwards to the mouth, the diameter of which is about six inches, being in fact the widest part VOL. XL. 3 T
606 On the Discovery of a Romano-British Cemetery near Plymouth.
of the vessel, overhanging the body of the vase quite three quarters of an inch. The external surface is ornamented by a rim at the edge, by an embossed ring about an inch below, and by a second but less raised ring an inch still lower, beneath which point the swelling part of the vessel is covered by a number of short engraved notches placed in lines vertical to the base ; this latter work- manship resembles the ornamentation of Celtic pottery.
Two vessels apparently intended for holding water were found. The first was a plain earthenware bottle made of very soft friable yellow ware. The body of this vessel was nearly circular, having a flat ringed base and a narrow neck. It was, when first found, perfect as to form but intersected by numerous fractures, so that it was impossible to have removed it except in a very frag- mentary condition. It stood in an upright position, and, previous to its removal, I inserted iny hand through the broken side but found nothing within. The height of the bottle, which had a portion of the neck broken off, was about eight inches, and it could not be much less in diameter than six.
The other vessel is of the same general form as the preceding but somewhat larger. It is of a light yellow friable ware. It probably stood about twelve inches in height, and its diameter at its greatest circumference was probably about eight inches. The neck and mouth of the vessel are represented in PI. XXXII. fig. 5, and it will be seen that it had a handle.
The only piece of pottery of any consequence that I have left undescribed appears to have been part of a drinking cup. It is of a yellow ware ; its sides were perpendicular to its flat base, and it was ornamented by a double embossed line traversing the circumference on a level with the lower extremity of the handle, which was probably near the middle. Assuming this to be the case, the cup probably stood at about five inches in height, and its circumference, taken from a continuation of the measured segment, could not be less than four inches and a half; so that it was nearly as broad as high, and probably held about a pint of water.
8. Iron Implements. — The iron objects were mostly in too decomposed a con- dition for us to arrive at any positive conclusions as to what they really were. Some appear to have been the remains of the blades of knives ; some were pro- bably the tangs of knives that were driven into the handle, and the remains of wood still attached to them deeply stained with ferruginous rust support this hypothesis ; some, of which there were a considerable number taken from one spot, might have been the round points of arrows, or the armature of a buckler.
On the Discover of a Romano- British Cemetery near Plymouth. 507
They consisted generally of irregularly-shaped nodules of iron, from which a point or sharp tongue projected. There are many other pieces of irregular form.
About a hundred feet from these graves, while cutting nearer towards the sea, the labourers came upon a solitary grave of similar character to the rest, out of which they obtained several fragments of iron, four of which upon being put together were found to be the remains of a pair of shears. (PL XXX. fig. 4.) The others were part of a knife. The point was curved forwards, one edge of the blade being sharp ; the other, forming the back of the knife, was thick and blunt.
9. Bronze Rings. — With these last implements parts of three bronze rings were found. The largest is faced with three circular discs, the middle one being much greater in diameter than the lateral ones, which are of one size. (PL XXXI. fig. 4.) The central one is ornamented with designs in relief. The lateral discs are deep, and when found were partially occupied with a white material, probably the remains of a cement that was used to fix a bead in each. The ring which is now flattened somewhat, was evidently intended to have been worn on the finger.
The second ring is smaller than the previous one. Its face is merely a flattened extension of itself, and is ornamented by two rows of short vertical lines inclosed within engraved margins. This ring, of which only a portion has been recovered, appears to have been too small to have been worn on the finger even of a female ; and the circumstance of the face being at right angles with the sides suggests that it may have been used for other purposes than as a finger-ring.
Some portions of a third ring were also found, but not sufficient to enable any idea to be formed of its character with certainty. The fragment consists of small wire flattened at one extremity, the sides of the whole being closely ribbed.
On the completion of the work necessary for the fortification, I applied for per- mission to pursue further research. In this way I have been enabled to proceed more cautiously, and obtain a clearer idea of the positions of the things found in relation to each other. Undoubtedly the remains appear to be very hetero- geneously mingled together, but still I think the following may be relied upon as being an approximation of their relative positions to each other.
The blocks of weather-worn limestone which appear in the first instance to be so irregularly placed I ascertained, by tracing the circuit of the walls of the graves, where it was practicable to do so, to have been placed originally as a wall, within which the corpse was placed in a sitting posture. It is
3i2
508 On the Discovery of a Romano-British Cemetery near Plymouth.
probable that some of the stones were also employed for the purpose of covering-in the body.
The reason that ornaments and objects of value were buried with the dead has never been clearly established. The small number of things that are found interred militates altogether against the idea which Caesar has affirmed to be the case with the inhabitants of ancient Briton — that all their wealth was buried with them — even if we suppose that the inhabitants of a Roman colony had so far adopted the customs of the people among which they had settled as to have copied them in their mode of interment.
Judging from these explorations, the opinion at which I have arrived is that it was customary, arising from sanitary purposes or from feelings of affection, to bury with the body all the objects which the individual had in use at the time of or during the sickness that preceded death. It is in this way only that I can account not only for the existence of ornaments and vessels of value, but also for the presence of pebbles from the shore as well as the teeth of the pig, all of which I assume to have been objects of amusement belonging to the child from whose grave I took them.
In the solitary grave the discovery of finger-rings, a knife, and scissors indicate it as the burial-place of a female, but why it was separated so distantly from the rest there are at present no means of ascertaining ; that the separation was intentional may be accepted from the circumstance that a cutting in the rock was found to exist between it and the other graves, which the engineering officer assures me, from its appearance and character, must have originally been intended as a drain.
I offer these suggestions merely as ideas that occurred to my mind as I progressed with the research, which at present must be considered in an un- finished state, inasmuch as there appears to be a very considerable ground not yet explored.
Since the explorations were made by which the preceding objects were obtained, I have received from my friend Captain Moggridge a coin that was dug from the soil in a direction nearer to the sea than the place at which the graves were found. This coin is much defaced, but appears to be a Second Brass of Vespasian.3 This Roman prince having reigned from A.D. GO to 79 we may form some idea of the period at which existed the station on Stamford Hill from among the inhabitants of which those who occupied these graves were buried. I am aware that the evidence furnished by the coin is very unsatisfactory,
• Since this a worn First Brass coin of Antoninus Pius has been found on the same hill.
On the Discovery of a Romano-British Cemetery near Plymouth. 509
but when data by which to arrive at a conclusion are wanting we are thankful for every feeble substitute. That the coin may have been buried at any sub- sequent period is quite possible, but the circumstance that it should be a Roman coin and, though not found in one of the graves, yet buried deeply in the soil, does, as I said before, in lieu of better evidence, assist us somewhat to arrive at a date which may possibly be the correct one.
It cannot be doubted that in the neighbourhood of such an extensive burial- place there must have been some village or station of the same period. No record of such a place is handed down to us either by history or tradition ; and, as it is not very probable that there were two stations so very near, it is not unlikely that this may have been the site of Tamara. Of course the objection that will be raised to this hypothesis is that the river Plym and not the Tamar, from which the station derived its name, flows down the Catwater. In answer to this objection I would remark that Plymouth Sound is the ocean mouth of the Tamar, of which the Hamoaze is but a part, and that it is not unlikely but that the entire length of the river from the English Channel to the weirhead may formerly have been known as the Tamar, even if the branches were not also recognised under the same term. I think that the locality would be a favourable one for a station, where vessels might ride at safety and have but little difficulty in getting out to sea.
Hooe Lake, two thousand years ago, was probably not so filled with mud as it now is, and would offer to vessels at anchor the safety of a dock harbour.
By the river Plym the Dartmoor tin, the produce of the stream-works of which such abundant evidence remains, could easily be brought down. By the river Tamar might come the tin from the great western range of the Duchy Hills.
The old Pioman road, which I have been informed by Mr. Trelawny is still in existence on his estate, would appear to be in a line from the station at Stamford Hill to the nearest ferry on the Tamar, where the crossing would not entail the passage of other rivers.
Whether the idea of this having been the old Tamara be correct or not, there can, I think, be no doubt but that it must have been the site of a Roman village, and, as being the first traces that have been found in the neighbourhood of Plymouth, I have thought that it might form a subject worthy of the considera- tion of this learned Society.
I may add that all the specimens are preserved in the Museum at the Athenaeum, Plymouth, where have also been deposited such as have been since found at the same place.
510
Note on the Mirrors, 8fc. discovered in a Cemetery near Plymouth. By AUGUSTUS "WOLLASTON FRANKS, Esq. M.A. Director.
The mirrors which have been discovered in the cemetery near Plymouth, and which are engraved in Plate XXX., are objects that have been rarely discovered in the British Islands. Three specimens are however known to me, which it may be interesting to compare with those under consideration. 1. A bronze mirror slightly elliptical in form, and with a marginal band like fig. 1. It has likewise engraved scrolls on the back of the same general character as the mirror from Plymouth. Greatest width, seven inches and three-quarters. The handle is attached to the mirror by a plate cut out in scrolls somewhat like fig. 3, is composed of two loops with a cross-band at their junction, and terminates in a large ring. It was found near Bedford, and has been alluded to by Mr. Spence Bate. 2. A smaller mirror of the same description, with engraved scrolls at the back and an ornamental handle. It forms part of the collection presented by Joseph Mayer, Esq. F.S.A. to the town of Liverpool. Nothing is known as to its history. 3. A mirror of a slightly elliptical form (greatest width eight inches and a quarter), with a plain back, a marginal rim, and a broad handle. The portion of this handle joining the mirror is ornamented with scrolls in relief; the lower end is decorated with pierced work. It was discovered at Balmaclellan, Kirkcudbright- shire, and is preserved in the Museum of the Scottish Antiquaries. See Proceedings Soc. Ant. Scotland, vol. iv. p. 294, and Sculptured Stones of Scotland, vol. ii. p. x. With it were found a number of other bronze objects, including a large crescent-shaped plate engraved with scrolls of precisely the same character as fig. 1. Similar scrolls also occur on the shield found in the river Withain, engraved in the Archceologia, vol. XXIII. PI. xiii. and in Kemble's Iforce Ferales, PI. xiv.
It is well known that mirrors are not unfrequcntly represented on the early sculptured stones of Scotland, accompanied by combs and other symbols.
The mirrors of unquestionably Roman origin found in England and the Continent may be divided into the following classes: — 1. Quadrangular mirrors without handles; 2. Circular mirrors fitting into cases of the same form ; 3. Circular mirrors with handles, but without marginal bands, the edges often pierced. These mirrors are of a whiter metal than those found at Plymouth, more like modern speculum metal, and probably contain a larger amount of tin.
1 should be therefore disposed to attribute the mirrors from Plymouth and the others which I have described to a Late Celtic origin. The only other mirrors with ornamented backs are the Etruscan ; in their elliptical form the specimens under consideration are not altogether unlike Egyptian mirrors.
To a Late Celtic origin I should also be inclined to refer the armlet engraved in Plate XXXI. fig. 1. Some of the pottery, especially Plate XXXII. fig. 5, is purely Roman.
I may add that in 1832 a considerable number of British coins were found on Mount Batten, near this cemetery. See Numismatic Journal, vol. i. ; Evans, Coins of the Ancient Britons, pp. 72, 106, 128.
INDEX.
A.
Abbess, election of an, 427, 443
Adder's Beads, 229
Altar, Roman, found at Lymne, 380
Altars in Roman Churches, 210
Ambonet in Roman Churches, 209
America, earliest mention of, 24 — 40
Anne Boleyne, Queen, Portraits of, 74, 81, 87, 88
Anne of Cleves, Queen, Portraits of, 77, 86
Anne, Queen of Hungary, Portrait of, 81
Annulus Piscatoris, memoir on, 129 — 142
Antiquarius, The, by Hieronymus Bononius, 143 —
156
Armagnac, Count of, Portraits of his Daughters, 475 Armilla from Plymouth, 502
Arundel Castle, Portrait of Duchess of Milan at, 108 Arundcl Family, Pedigree of, 420 Aston, Sir Walter, Letters to, 274—282
B.
BATE, C. SPEJJCE, F.R.S., on a Romano-British
Cemetery at Plymouth, 500—509 BELDAM, JOSEPH, F.8.A. on Royston Court House,
119—137
Benches, The Four, 429 Ben-Djemma, Malta, Skull from, 491 BLACK, WILLIAM HBNHY, F.S.A. observations on
the Site of Roman London, 41 — 49 . further observa-
tions, 50—58
by Hieronymus Bononius, 143 — 156
• on the Antiquarius,
BLACK, WILLIAM HEKRY, F.S.A. on the Identifica- tion of the Roman Portus Lemanis, 375 — 380
BLIGHT, J. T on Subterranean Chambers at Trelo- warren, Cornwall, 113 — 118
Boleyne, Mary, portrait of, 84
Bononius, Hieronymus, of Treviso, MSS. by, 143— 156
Bronze Objects from Plymouth, 502, 510
BRUCE, JOHN, F.S.A. on a PockeWial of Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, 343—356
Burgundy, Duchess of, Embassies from England t<>, 451—461
C.
Canonsleigh, co. Devon, Priory and Abbey at, 417—
450
Carausius, Coins of, 412 Cassivcllaunus, town of, 51, 64 Cathedrae in Roman Churches, 215 Celtic Bronze Mirrors, 510 Charles I. his Residence at Royston, 133 Chester, Roman Remains discovered at, 285 — 294 Christus, Petrus, Portrait of Edward Grimston t>y.
451, 459, 471
other paintings by, 471 — 482
Ciboria in Roman Churches, 213 Clavile Family, Pedigree of, 418
Seal of John de, 443
Clist, Seal of William de, 449
COCHET, L'Abbe, Sur une Statue de Guillaume-le-
Conquerant, 398 — 402 Cole, Humphrey, dial-maker, 348, 354 " Confessions" of Roman Churches, 199 Crystals used in magic, 390
512
INDEX.
D.
Dalton, Edward, F.S A. Pocket-dial belonging to,
343—360 Darcy Family, 235 Donne, Sir John, Portrait of, 472 DONNE, WILUAM BOOIIAM, on Human Sacrifices
among the Romans, 250 — 256 Doorways of Roman Churches, 190 Dniry, Mary, wife of Edward Grimston, 465— 4C7
E.
Edward I. Administration of Criminal Law in his
reign, 89—105
- money borrowed by, 425, 441 Edward VI. Portraits of, 72 Elizabeth, Princess, Portraits of, 73, 85 Elizabeth, Queen, Documents relating to Magic in
her reign, 3«9— 397 Emery, Roger, Seal of, 450 Episcopal .Jurisdiction, sede vacante, 432 Essex, Robert Deverenx Earl of, his Pocket-dial,
343—360
arms of, 352
EVANS, JOHN, F.JS.A. on the worked Flints of Pres-
signy-Ie-Grand, 3*1—388 Exeter, seal of official principal of Bishop of, 429
F.
F.URHOLT, F. W. F.S.A. on an Inventory of the Household Goods of Sir T. Ramsey, 311—322
Fibula from Romano- British Cemetery near Ply- mouth, 503
Fisherman's Ring, 129 — 142
Flanders, its relations with England, 459
Flint Implements from Pressigny-le-Grand, 381 — 388
Fonts of Roman Churches, 202
FKANKS, AUGUSTUS WOLLASTON, Director, Notes on Edward Grimston, 455 — 470
FRANKS, AUGUSTUS WOLLASTON, Note on Antiquities discovered at Plymouth, 510
G.
Chain Tiffiha, Malta, Rock-tombs at, 483 — 486
Skulls from, 488 — 490
Giocondi, Francesco, 20
Giocondi, Fra Giovanni, 21
Glass from Romano-British Cemetery near Ply- mouth, 504
Gresham, Sir Thomas, 312
Grimston, Edward, Ambassador from Henry VI., In- structions to, and Portrait of, 451—471 Seal of, 464
Family, 455
Guilford, Lady, Portrait of, 85
H.
Hagiar Kim, Malta, skull from, 492
HARROD, HENRY, F.S.A. on the Mantle and the
Ring of Widowhood, 307—310 HART, W. H. F.S.A. on Documents relating to
Magic, temp. Elizabeth, 389—397 Helps, Mr., on Human Sacrifices, 250 Henry VI., his Instructions to his Ambassadors to
the Duchess of Burgundy, 452 — 454 Henry VIII., Portraits of the Queens of, 71—88
Picture of Family of, 79, 83
Holbein, Hans, his Portraits of the Royal Family
of England, 71—73 his Portrait of the Duchess of
Milan, 107
Human Sacrifices among the Romans, 242 — 256 Hythe, Kent, whether site of Portus Lemanis, 361 —380
I.
Inventory of Household Goods of Sir Thomas Ramsey, 311—342
IXDEX.
513
J.
James I., his Residence at Royston, 120 — 131
Letters from and to him by Sir Henry
Wotton, 257—284
Jane Seymour, Queen, Portraits of, 76, 82 JOYCE, Rev. JAMES GERALD, F.S.A. on the Exca- vations at Silchester, 403 — 416
K.
Katherine of Arragon, Queen, Portraits of, 73, 81 Katherine Howard, Queen, Portraits of, 78, 84, 87 Katherine Parr, Queen, Portraits of, 79, 83 Kynvin, James, dial-maker, 347 — 349
Law, Criminal, temp. Edward I., 89 LEWIN, THOMAS, F.S.A. Sketch of British and Roman London, 59 — 70
on the Position of the
Portus Lemanis of the Romans, 361 — 374
LIDDELL, Very Rev. HENRY GEORGE, Dean of Christchurch, on Human Sacrifices among the Romans, 242—249
London, British, 44, 51, 59—66
Roman, Site of, 41—58, 66—70
Wall of, 295, 306
Lord Mayor of, 311
Lud, Walter, 21, 30
Lymne, Kent, whether Site of Portus Lemanis,
361—380 — — Roman Altar from, 380
M.
Magic, Documents relating to, 389 — 397
MAJOR, RICBARD HENRY, F.S.A. Memoir on a
Mappemonde by Leonardo da Vinci, 1 — 40 Malta, Rock-tombs at, 483 Mantle of Widowhood, 307 — 310
VOL. XL.
Mappemonde by Leonardo da Vinci, 1 — 40
Margaret of Anjou, Portrait of, 476
Mary, daughter of Henry VIIL, Portraits of, 72
Milan, Christina, Duchess of, Portraits of, 106 — 112
Milverton, Advowson of, 422, 436
Mirrors of Bronze found in Cemetery near Ply- mouth, 502, 510
Morden, East, Advowson of, 423, 440
Morton, Sir Albert, Letter to, 282
N.
NESBITT, ALEXANDER, F.S.A. on the Churches at Rome earlier than the year 1150, 157—224
NICHOLS, FRANCIS MORGAN, F.S.A. observations on Documents illustrative of the Administration of Criminal Law, temp. Edward I., 89 — 105
NICHOLS, JOHN GOUGH, F.S.A. remarks on Hol- bein's Portraits of the Royal Family, and Portraits of the Queens of Henry VIIL 71—80
Nocturnal, instrument so called, 344, 357 — 360
P.
Pavement, Roman, at Winterton, co. Lincoln, 241 — at Silchester, 408
Pavements of Roman Churches, 181
PEACOCK, EDWARD, F.S.A. on the History of Win- terton by Abraham de la Pryme, 225 — 241
PERCEVAL, CHARLES SPENCER, F.S.A. on Charters and Documents relating to Priory and Abbey of Cannonsleigh, co. Devon, 417 — 430
Pey, Nicholas, Letters to, 265
Phoenician Occupation of Malta, 495
Plymouth, Romano-British Cemetery near, 500 — 510
Pocket-dial of Robert Devereux Earl of Essex, 343 —360
Popes, use of Fisherman's Ring by, 129 — 142
Portman, Lord, Documents belonging to, 417
Porton, Geoffrey de, Seal of, 440
U
514
INDEX.
Portus Lemanit, Site of, 361—380
Pottery from Rock-tombs at Malta, 486, 498
Romano-British Cemetery near Ply- mouth, 504
Presbyteria in Roman Churches, 202
Pressigny-le- Grand, Flint Implements from, 381 — 388
Pryme, Abraham de la, his History of Winterton, 225—241
Pedigree of, 230
R.
Ramsey, Sir Thomas. Inventory of Household Goods
of, 311— 342
Rene of Anjou, Paintings by, 476 Richmond, Henry Fitzroy Duke of, 72 Ring of the Fisherman, 129 — 142
Widowhood, 307—310
Roman Altar found at Lymne, 380
London, Site of, 41—58, 66—70
on remains of the Wall of, 295 — 306
Remains at Chester, 285 — 294
Silchester, Excavations at, 403 — 416
Romans, Human Sacrifices among the, 242 — 256 Rome, Churches of, earlier than the year 1150, 157
—224
Romney Marsh, 367
Roos, Philippa Lady, wife of Edward Grimston, 468 Roper, Margaret, Portrait of, 85 Royston Court House, 119—136 Rudd Family, 239
S.
Sacrifices, Human, among the Romans, 242 — 256
Saint- Victor-l'Abbaye, Normandy, Statue of Wil- liam the Conqueror at, 398 — 402
Salisbury, Seals of Walter Bishop of, and of Dean and Chapter of, 440
Sampford Arundel, Advowson of, 420, 431
Sardinia, Skulls from, 496
SCHAKF, GEORGE, F.S.A. notes on the Portraits of
the Queens of Henry VIII. 80—88 on a Portrait of the Duchess
of Milan, 106—112 on the Portrait of Edward
Grimston, &c. 471—482 Scorbrough Family, 239 Seal of the official principal of the Bishop of Exeter,
429
Saint Andrew, Wells, 436
Priory of Leigh, 439
Walter, Archdeacon of Taunton, 439
Geoffrey de Porton, 440
Walter, Bishop of Salisbury, 440
Dean and Chapter of Salisbury, 440
• John de Clavile, 443
Abbey of Canonsleigh, 448
William de Clist, 449
Roger Emery, 450
Edward Grimston, 464
Silchester, Excavations at, 403 — 416
Skulls from Rock-tombs at Malta, 481—499
Sleight Family, 237
Sloane, Sir Hans, Letters to, 228
Smith, C. Roach, F.S.A. his opinion as to Lymne,
377
Soderini, Pietro, 29
Stanhope, Earl, P.S.A. his views on Human Sacri- fices, 242, 252 Statutes of Winchester and Westminster, temp
Edward I. 92—100 Stobnicza, John, his Introduction to the Coimo-
graphia of Ptolemy, 37 Subterranean Chambers at Trelowarren, co. Cornwall,
113—118
Suffolk, Earl of, 457 SWANN, Capt. JOHN S. on Rock-tombs at Ghain
Tiffiha and Tal Horr, Malta, 483—486
T.
Tal Horr, Malta, Rock-tomb at, 486 Skull from, 494
INDEX.
515
Tate, Sir Robert, Portrait of, 473
Taunton, Archdeacon of, his Claim to Episcopal
Jurisdiction sede vacante, 432
his Seal, 439
Tertullian, his Statement as to Human Sacrifices
among the Romans, 248 Tharros, Sardinia, Skulls from, 496 THOMS, WILLIAM J., F.S.A. on the Instructions given
by Henry VI. to Edward Grimston, 451 Thorndon, Suffolk, Monuments at, 468, 470 Thome Family, Pedigree of, 422 Thome St. Margaret, Advowson of, 422, 436 THURNAM, JOHN, M.D., F.S.A. on Human Remains
from Malta, 488—499 TITB, WILLIAM, M.P., V.P.S.A. on Roman Remains
at Chester, 285—294 on the Remains of the Roman Wall
of London, 295—305 Tombs in Roman Churches, 216 Trailbaston, Justices of, 94 Trelowarren, co. Cornwall, Subterranean Chambers
at, 113—118
V.
Valoignes, Normandy, Castle of, 457 Verulam, Earl of, Portrait and Documents belong- ing to, 451-471
Vespucci, Amerigo, Voyages of, 12 — 40 Vinci, Leonardo da, Mappemonde by, 1 — 40
W.
Wall, Roman, of London, 295—306
WATERTON, EDMUND, F.S.A. on the Annulus Pis-
catoris, 138 — 142 WATSON, C. KNIGHT, Secretary, on letters from Sir
Henry Wotton to James I. and others, 257 Wells, Seal of Church of, 436 Westminster, Statute of, 98 Widowhood, Mantle and Ring of, 307 — 310 Will of Sir Thomas Ramsey, 315 William the Conqueror, Statue of, 398—402 WILLIAMS, JOHN, F.S.A. Note on the Use of the
Nocturnal, 357—360 Winchester, Statute of, 92 Windows of Roman Churches, 193 Windsor Castle, Mappemonde in Royal Collections
at, 1—40
Portrait of Duchess of Milan at, 106
Winterton, co. Lincoln, History of, by Abraham de
la Pryrne, 225—241 Woodward, B. B. F.S.A. discovers a Mappemonde
in the Royal Library, 1 Wotton, Sir Henry, Letters to James I. and others,
257—284
Westminster : Printed by J. B. NICHOLS and SONS, 26, Parliament Street.
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