registers of Much Hadham show that the Stopes family "also lived there, and that this pair had children born to them," James Stopes, gentleman, "dying on October 31, 1572." Among the baptisms, August 11, 1588, appears the name "Leonard, the sonne of John Stopes," showing it was a family name. James Stopes and Margery Newce seem to have had a large family, and of their son James there is one point worth noting in connection with Tudor history. He was a clergyman in London of the Reformed Faith in the church of St. Mary Magdalene, Old Fishe Street, London, where he was inducted October 4, 1577. There he seemed to have been much liked. He was probably the father of Katherine Stopes, who married William Neile, Registrar or Chapter Clerk at Westminster, and brother of the most Reverend Richard, Archbishop of York. She was buried in the cloisters of Westminster, August 5, 1620. (See Chester's Registers of Westminster Abbey.) There was also a Mary Stopes, who on September 20, 1613, married Richard Morgan by licence, in St. Mary le Strand, London. (See Selby's Genealogist, new series, vol. iv., p. 108.) But we are certain that he had a son John, and that through him is continued the history of the family. In the possession of Mr. Willett, the well-known collector in Brighton, is a cup, made of a silver-mounted ostrich egg, with stand, mount, lid, and flag of silver-gilt, hallmarked, 1621, a beautiful specimen of work of the period. It bears the inscription: "This Cupp was given to Mr. John Stopes, our Parsonn's Sonne, by the Parishioners of the Parish of St. Mary Magdalene, in or neere Olde Fish Streete, London, for his painestakinge with us by his often preaching with us, hoping that he will so friendly accept it, as we most frankly and willingly meane it. The first day of January, 1623." On the Flag topping the cup are these words: "On the 4th of October, 1577, Mr. James Stopes came to be our Parson." On the reverse a crucifix, a kneeling woman, with a pot of ointment in front of her, a rock behind her, a building in the background, and "M. Magdalene" in writing over the woman's head. This James Stopes, therefore, had officiated in that modest edifice throughout more than the whole of the Shakespearian period. The gift was evidently presented on the son's departure for the living of Crowell, in Oxfordshire, though it took some time in making. From the Register of Crowell, we know that he married twice-first, the little Judith Squire, mentioned in the will of Bishop Aylmer (his granddaughter, and niece of Theophilus Aylmer, the Rector of Much Hadham); and that he had a large family by her. In 1639 he christened Thomas Ellwood, afterwards the Quaker, and friend of Milton. He has a good many entries in connection with the Civil War, and two memoranda— one of his bequest to the poor of four acres, still called "The Poor's Field," and one of another bequest of sixty-three acres, which has disappeared, but which might be restored by a thorough investigation. His daughter Rebecca presented, in 1637, the silver communion chalice, still used in the church. A handsome tombstone was designed for him by his son James, on his death in 1666, but was removed on the restoration of the church in 1877, and has since disappeared. Fortunately the words were copied before the removal. For up till then we could find "the following inscription on the stone that lyeth under the Chancel gate opposite the communion-table in the parish church of Crowell, in Oxfordshire: Here lyeth the body of John Stopes, which came to be parson of this parish of Crowell in the year of our Lord 1621, being the 8th day of May. He was eighty-four years of age the 7th last past 1666. And of his wife Judith, daughter of Adam Squires, D.D., and of his wife Judith, daughter of John Aylmer, Bishop of London. He begat three sons and four daughters; he survived them all except James."" We have a square old calf-bound Bible, with double silver clasps of the period, belonging to this James Stopes, "clerk,"* and giving his pedigree, dating his marriage to Mrs. Anne Marriott on April 2, 1650. Ever since the marriage of John, to the granddaughter of Bishop Aylmer, Judith has been a name among the daughters, and Aylmer a Christian name among the sons of the family, taking the place once held by "Leonard." None of the race have shown any tendency to produce poetry. In Dodd's Church History * See Miscellanea Genealogica et Heraldica, 1880, p. 123. (vol. ii., pp. 86-7). Among the Bachelors of Divinity for 1654 it is stated: "Two were admitted, James Stopes of Magdalene Hall, and Thomas Harward of Trinity College, but neither of them were writers." Since that date there has been a series, uninterrupted till quite lately, of rectors of the name in the neighbouring parishes of Britwell Salome, Britwell Prior, Brightwell Baldwin, South Stoke, with a few scions in the adjoining counties, showing a distinct attraction toward the church; for the members of this small family have all seemed to have been, as formerly, farmers, with at least one rector in each generation. It is but little to be able to produce such a slight sketch of a life and so few fragments of verse on which to claim literary notice, but the value of "fragments" has now begun to be realized, in piecing together, as in a mosaic picture, the life and work of the past. It is possible that further manuscripts may sometime or other be yet discovered that may shed more light upon the reign of the Queen that sank to the grave, as has hitherto been supposed, Unwept, unhonoured, and unsung. 66 "Maiden's" or "Marden's Wall" (Well)— wall here having the same meaning as well. It was situated on the rise of a hill called the "High Wood." Its waters were once very famous for their healing powers, and many people from the parts adjacent frequently fetched some of its water to administer to persons suffering from various diseases, when the medicine of the professional man had failed to effect a cure or give relief. It had also a strange legend attached to it, which may account for its modern name. It was believed to be haunted by the ghost of a young woman, and on this account people were so much afraid that few of them could be found hardy enough to go near it after dark. This superstition would appear to be a survival of the time when wells were believed to be inhabited by spirits, whose aid was invoked by means of divination. Fortune-tellers frequently took advantage of this superstition to extort money from the ignorant and foolish, pretending to call up the spirits to the surface of the water, in order that the person desiring knowledge of the future might question them. Females in particular were guilty of this superstition, arising out of a weakness and anxiety to know who would be their future spouse.-Ibid. RUSHTON SPENCER: ST. HELEN'S WEll. There was a famous well here known as Holy Wells: their Legends and St. Helen's, which was endowed by the super Superstitions. By R. C. HOPE, F.S.A., F.R.S.L. (Continued from p. 163, vol. xxii). STAFFORDSHIRE (continued.) UTTOXETER PENNY CROFT ON THE FLATTS. HIS well was once scrupulously kept, and flowers yearly adorned it, because it was believed to possess great curative properties. According to the Reliquary it was called "Penny Croft," from the pence the afflicted offered for the use of its healing virtues. It has lately been turned into a common drinkingplace for cattle. - Midland Weekly News, contributed by G. T. Lamby. UTT XETER: MARIAN'S WELL. The ancient name Marian or Mary's Well has in more modern times been changed to stitious with several very singular qualities. It sometimes became suddenly dry after a constant overflow for eight or ten years. This occurred in wet as well as in dry seasons, and always at the beginning of May, when springs are generally believed to be at their highest, and the dry season lasted till Martinmas. It was locally believed that this occurrence foretold some great calamity, as war, famine, pestilence, or other national disaster. It is said to have become dry before the outbreak of the Civil War, before the execution of Charles I., before the great scarcity of corn in 1670, and in 1679 when the miscalled Popish plot was discovered. So says Dr. Plott.-Ibid. CHECKLEY: WELL IN THE WALL. Between Upper and Lower Tean, in the parish of Checkley, is a spring of a remarkable character, denominated the "Well in the Wall," as it rises from under a rock. An old An old tradition says that this unaccountable spring throws out all the year round-except in July and August-small bones of different sorts, like those of sparrows and chickens.Ibid. BLYMHILL: ELDER WELL. Here is a noted well, known as "Elder Well," said to be blessed with valuable medicinal properties, and to be a sovereign remedy for the eyes, on which account it used to be annually "dressed" with flowers and branches of trees, and rustic games and amusements indulged in by those attending.—Ibid. SHENSTONE: ST. JOHN'S WELL. A custom similar to the above obtains here.-Ibid. BREWOOD: LEPER'S WELL. There was a famous sulphureous well here accounted a sovereign remedy for leprosy. England's Gazetteer (1751) informs us it is used at "present" by both man and beast against cutaneous diseases, so that many of the inhabitants boil their meat in and brew with it. Nightingale (Beauties of England and Wales) tells us that "processioning was prevalent at Brewood at the annual celebration of well-dressing there."-Ibid. INGESTRE ST. ERASMUS' WELL. Here is another well famous for the cure of the king's evil, known as "St. Erasmus's Well," of sulphureous quality. In the reign of Henry VII. a chapel was built near this spring. The Chetwynd MS., in the Salt Library, at Stafford, records that "an aged man, formerly clerk there, told Walter Chetwynd that the adjoining wells were much frequented by lame and diseased people, many whereof found there a cure for their infirmity, inasmuch that at the dissolution thereof, the walls were hung about with crutches, the relics of those who had benefited thereby. Nor was the advantage small to the priest, the oblations of the chapel being valued in the king's books at £6 13s. 4d.”— Ibid. WILLENHALL: ST. SUNDAY. In Dr. Wilkes' MS. is a reference to this famous well. He tells us that a holy well existed in that town, which was curiously dedicated to St. Sunday, and that it was celebrated for the cure of several diseases. bore the following inscription: "Fons occulis morbisque cutaneis diu celebris. A.D. 1728." Where this well was is now a matter of im It penetrable mystery, a fact which may be accounted for in the almost complete cover ing of the original surface of the land by the refuse of the mines.-Ibid. At Willowbridge, in the north of the county, was a medicinal spring, originally discovered, it is said, by Lady Bromley. Á rare and curious pamphlet of the seventeenth century was written in praise of its virtues by a celebrated physician, named Samuel Gilbert. The water, according to Dr. Plott, carried with it the most rectified sulphur of any mineral spring in the county.-Ibid. WALSALL: THE ALUM WELL. Half a century ago or more, there was a famous well here known by the prosaic name of "The Alum Well." Tradition has not left anything on record respecting its virtues, nor do I know where it is located.-Ibid. Stowe (Lichfield): st. Chad's well. "Leland, in his Itinerary, says: 'Stowe Church, in the easte end of the towne, where is St. Chadd's Well, a spring of pure water, where is seen a stone in the bottom of it, on the whiche, some say, St. Chadd was wont, naked, to stand in the water and praye. At this stone St. Chad had his oratory in the tyme of Wulphar, King of the Merches.' The superstitious custom of adorning this well with boughs, and of reading the Gospel for the day, at this and at other wells and pumps, is yet observed in this city on Ascension Day."-Harwood's History of Lichfield, p. 509 (published 1806). This custom is still continued in Lichfield (see Shropshire Folk-lore, s.v. "Ascensiontide," pp. 348, 349, on "Traces of Well Worship"), but the procession only goes round the boundaries of the Close as there described, and does not go out to Stowe and St. Chad's Well. I can hear of no current superstition, custom, or tradition about the well.-C. S. B. It is popularly believed that it is dangerous to drink of the water of St. Chad's Well, as it is sure to give a fit of the "shakes." Yet, in spite of the attendant's remonstrances, I took a good draught, and, instead of ague, experienced only great refreshment in a fatiguing walk on a sultry day.—Rev. C. F. R. Palmer. CHATWELL: ST. CHAD'S WELL. Great and Little Chatwell are two tiny hamlets in the (civil) parish of Gnosall, Staffordshire. At Little Chatwell is a well called St. Chad's, approached by old stone steps, the water of which is of very good quality and highly thought of for tea-making. At Great Chatwell is a bit of old sandstone wall with a fragment of a window, the remains of a chapel. The lady who lives at St. Chatwell House, and whose father lived there before her (whether previous generations owned it I don't know) says that "according to tradition the well was consecrated by St. Chad," but how she got this tradition I don't know, or whether it is more than the supposition of her own family. The late owner of Little Chatwell (Mr. J. H. Adams, who had a great love of antiquities) called his house Chadwell Court. The name Chatwell (pronounced Chattle) is said to have formerly been Chadwell, but I don't know of anyone who has seen any old deed in which it was so spelt. Not that I doubt the etymology.-C. S. Burne. TAMWORTH: ST. RUFINUS. There was a well of St. Rufinus at Tamworth, on the Warwickshire side of the town, mentioned in the Hundred Rolls, temp. Edward I. It was almost entirely destroyed by fire, June 15, 1559, and the restoration was very slow, occupying more than forty years. It is possible, the well having fallen into discredit, it was at this period finally destroyed and the road to it blocked up. Certain it is that the well is never mentioned after this period, and there has not been any public well in existence for 300 years, as far as any deed records. ELLERTON: THE KING'S WELL. "This well is situated at the furthest extremity of our parish (Adbaston). There are two cottages one mile from Ellerton; the well is in the garden of one of them. It is in first-rate condition, the water clear as crystal, surrounded by large stones, with steps down to the water. The cottages are built in Elizabethan style, though the stone has been replaced by bricks in a recent reparation. It is said that King Charles I., when staying at Chetwynd Park on the way to Market Drayton, one day drank of this well; also that King Charles II. changed his clothes in one of these very cottages for a countryman's smock and clogs."*—Eldon Butler. Adbaston Vicarage, August 19, 1890. * Charles II. did not come so far north in the flight from Worcester: the story probably refers to some other fugitive from the battle. The Duke of Buckingham, Earl of Derby, and others fled in this direction, and several of them were concealed in the neighbourhood for some time.-C. S. B. "Peterborough Gentlemen's Society." By J. T. IRVINE. HERE was founded at Peterborough in the first half of last century, twenty years before the Society of Antiquaries received its charter of incorporation, a local archæological society under the title of the "Peterborough Gentlemen's Society." This association, which exists to the present day, and of whose origin and work so little has hitherto been known, may fairly claim to be the parent of all those numerous local antiquarian societies that now abound in Great Britain and Ireland. Some account of their early proceedings cannot fail, therefore, to be of interest to modern antiquaries, particularly as the society dealt with various details in Peterborough and the district, many of which have since disappeared. The Gentlemen's Society in Peterborough was founded on August 26, 1730. The first volume of minutes, extending from that date to March 2, 1742-43, was presented to the Chapter Library of Peterborough by Rev. H. Freeman, Rector of Folksworth, in December 1853. A rule was made on June 25, 1740, that, if the society should ever be dissolved, the books, papers, prints, medals, and other curiosities shall be reposited in the Library of the Dean and Chapter of the cathedral church, and shall not be divided among any or all of the members of the said society. From the first volume of the minutes we take the following notes: "1730, September 2.-Maurice Johnson, Esq., of Spalding, made an honorary member. "October 7.-Thomas Marshall, rector of St. John's, reads an historical account of his church of St. John's, first erected by Abbot Torrold, 1078. A list of rectors given, and names added up to 1786. "October 14.-In the Chapel at Long Thorp (which is an hamlet belonging to the parish of St. John the Baptist, in Peterborough), is the following inscription engraved on a copper plate and fastened into a stone of the pave- Cúm refectum et Deo, cæmiterij gratiâ. "1730-31, February 3.-Mr. Marshall communicated to the Society the following inscription from two ancient pieces of stone work, fixed into that part of the West front of the Bishop's Palace in Peterborough, which stands nearest the Cathedral Church. They are carved in large projecting letters upon two separate stones cut in the form of an Escutcheon, and then put (as it were) into a square frame of stone with scroll work round it. The letters seem to make up this short pious sentence: Laudetur Dominus, except some should choose rather to read it: Laus detur Domino. (The sense in both cases the same.) The stone which has the in |