was rector from 1738 to 1775, was uncle of the celebrated poet-bishop of Calcutta. Occasionally Mr. Smith is curiously inconsequential in his style. What, for instance, is the connection between these two facts, with which the notice of the present rector ends? "Besides holding service in Stydd Church every Sunday during the summer months, Mr. Dickson has established a parish magazine." The fifth chapter is of special value to those interested in old country usages and local government; it deals with the records of the parish council of "The Gentlemen and Fourand-Twenty," from the middle of the seventeenth century downwards. They ruled not only the clerk and sexton, the ringers and choristers, but even elected the curates, and regulated their allowance according to their conduct. Another chapter gives a list of, and particulars as to, the churchwardens and other parish officials. A transcript is supplied of the first ten years of the oldest register, beginning in 1598, and remarkable entries are extracted from the remainder. It is noteworthy that during the early part of the eighteenth century baptisms and marriages are not infrequently recorded as performed by Roman Catholic priests. They are entered as by "Romish priest" or "Papist priest," not "Catholic priest," as Mr. Smith erroneously terms it in his text, for the seventeenthcentury rectors of Ribchester would fully recognise that they themselves came within this last description. Accounts are also given of the monuments and inscriptions, of the public charities, of some of the old families, and of the Roman Catholic mission and chapel. There is also some description of a library that was founded in the parish church in 1684. It was in existence within the last thirty years, and was one of considerable value. The books were allowed to rot away and to be taken off haphazard by anyone who fancied a copy, as has been noticed in Chancellor Christie's Old Libraries of Lancashire. Mr. Smith states that in 1889 he talked the matter over of the lost books with the rector, and they resolved to try and trace them. "After a brief search Mr. Dickson and myself discovered the following interesting volumes all in a dilapidated and disgraceful condition. After some trouble we were able to catalogue them. The books are six in number, and include the one mentioned by Chancellor Christie. They are, however, of no great value, so I do not give their titles." It is not often that statements so remarkably contradictory are brought into this close juxtaposition by an author! At all events, it was clearly his duty to give their titles whether they are "interesting" or of "no great value," in order that this little remnant of a disgracefully lost library may be preserved. There are two or three other instances of careless editing, but, as a whole, the volume is excellently done, and the authors, as well as all the literary residents of Ribchester and the district, are to be congratulated on the accomplishment of a local history.

DEANERY OF BICESTER. Part V.: History of Fring.

ford, Hethe, Mixbury, Newton Purcell, and Shelwell. By Rev. J. C. Blomfield, M.A. Elliot Stock. Quarto, pp. 192. Three plates; price 9s.

The brief history of these five parishes of the Deanery of Bicester maintains a high standard. The remarks on the origin of fords which precede the

account of Fringford are thoughtful, and suggest that in many a parish history enough attention is not paid to tracing the old paths and roads upon which parochial development so much depends. The following entry of a bequest in kind to the church is of interest:

1532, June 3d. Roger Copeland, of Fryngford, bequeaths to the High Altar a bushel of Barley. Item to Saint Kateryn's and St. Thom's altar 4 bushels of Barley. To the roode lofte ij bushels of Barley. Item to St. Thom's lofte iij bushels of Barley. Item to the bells iij bushels of Barley. To the Torches j bushel of Barley."

Here, too, is another noteworthy archidiaconal court record of the same century and place:

"Oct. 24th, 1584. Office of the lord against Robert Pryor de Fringford. He appeared. Having been sworn and warned, he answers and confesses, That he kept his sheepe in the fylde upon a Sondaye before morning prayer, and sayeth that he came to the Churche before the seconde lesson was ended, and there continued untill the service was ended, and he brought in compurgatory, of whom he lawfully cleared himself. Wherefore the lord dismissed him with a monition to come more earlye to service."

Many extracts of like interest, did space permit, might readily be made from the history of each of these five parishes. Although there is abundant proof of the careful use of secular sources of information in the manorial notes, as well as of critical personal study of the districts described, chief attention has been given to ecclesiastical records, which appear to have been most thoroughly searched, whether episcopal, archidiaconal, or parochial. We have never noted better lists of rectors, or more pains taken to procure reliable information in connection with the later incumbents than is the case with this history of the Deanery of Bicester. Occasionally, of course, Mr. Blomfield is at fault. For instance, under the account of the rectors in the history of Newton Purcell are several blunders. The due distinction is not made between canons regular and monks. The preReformation title of "Sir Priest" was certainly not confined to non-graduates. Although some peculiar case may have arisen with regard to a particular rector of Newton (the benefice of which was in the gift of the Priory of Bicester), whereby an illicit and illegal arrangement was made for the cure being served by a stipendiary parochial chaplain, who had been only formally instituted as rector, it is altogether wrong to suppose that medieval English bishops permitted instituted and inducted rectors, particularly when presented by religious houses, to be mere shams, not receiving the fruits. If Mr. Blomfield is right in his idea of what priories did with their rectories, how silly it would have been of them to spend so much time and money in endeavouring to turn them into vicarages!

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PARISHES OF SWARRATON AND NORTHINGTON. By Rev. W. L. W. Eyre. Simpkin and Co., and Warren and Son (Winchester). 4to., pp. xiv., 79. Sixteen illustrations. Price 158.

In the short preface the rector thus explains "the object in view in compiling this book-"to keep alive in the recollection of those residing in the

parishes or on the estate how much they owe to the noble and wealthy families who for so long a time have provided for them the means of living, numerous comforts when age or infirmity have dulled the senses or weakened the bodily frame, to say nothing of the enjoyment derived from the beautiful natural scenery by which they are surrounded." We were old-fashioned enough to believe that God gave us the bodily and mental powers by which we live, and that the same Being was responsible for "beautiful natural scenery." But, seriously, a village priest who can thus write has mistaken both century and country; he ought to have flourished in France in the days just previous to the Great Revolution, when the unstinted incense of adulation was offered by sycophantic writers to the landed seigneurs. We confess that it was difficult, after being pained by a preface as strange as it is happily rare, to study the remainder of the book with cool criticism, but we have done our best, with the following result: Mr. Eyre has read carefully a large number of printed authorities on the manorial history of these two parishes, and of their ecclesiastical connection with the abbeys of Hyde and Waverley, and with the order of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, and has on the whole assimilated his materials fairly well. The palæographist will, however, readily detect from various slips that the writer is unfamiliar with the documents that are cited, and the sources from which they are obtained ought to have been indicated. The ecclesiologist, also, will be startled by several rash and crude statements; obviously, when writing in general terms on the monasteries, that "they owed no allegiance to the laws of this country," the rector is writing to his parishioners on a subject of which he has not even elementary knowledge, and knows nothing of the canon law or of the episcopal jurisdiction over various religious houses of England. On pages 56, 57, a list is given, headed in capitals, "Rectors of Swarraton." It begins with two under the dates 1267 and 1284, and then jumps at a bound over two centuries to 1535. Even the latter part of the list abounds in blunders. A rector was presented to Swarraton by Sir Robert Henley in 1685, but does not appear at all; the next was presented by Anthony Henley in 1715, but there is no entry for that year; whilst under 1718, when no rector was instituted, Mr. Eyre is content to print, "Richard Webb (? if Rector)." Now, we say plainly there can be no excuse for slovenly, idle work of this kind. Far better leave parochial history alone than thus spoil the field for what might be properly done by others. It is of no use for a writer to say, as is here done in a foot-note, "This list is very imperfect, but the writer has failed to make it more complete." The episcopal registers of Winchester diocese are about the most perfect in the kingdom, extending as they do in unbroken line from 1232 downwards. No clergyman has any right to publish (for the book is not privately printed, but published and sent out for review) a history of his parish who will not take the trouble to journey to the centre of his diocese to search the episcopal act books, or if he does not possess the ability to read them, he should procure others to do it for him. The two old churches of Swarraton and Northington have both been demolished during the present century, the former having been apparently twice rebuilt. But no

one unacquainted with the parishes could possibly arrive at a clear conclusion as to what has been done in this respect, or where the present church stands, or where a cross or crosses have been erected on the sites of the old ones, the accounts in these pages are so strangely confused, and the letterpress at the bottom of the plates does not tally with that in the actual work. It will scarcely be credited that there is not one single line descriptive of the fine church of Northington, of which a beautiful photophane plate is given as a frontispiece, although the preface, dated April, 1890, expresses a hope that the book " 'may have a value for those who come after us"; we can but suppose and hope that this church is finished and in use, for its predecessor was pulled down in 1888.

A considerable part of this volume is taken up with an account of successive residents at the Grange, who became the sole landowners of these parishes, a series of interesting portraits being given of the Henleys, Drummonds, and Barings. This old monastic land has changed hands even more rapidly and frequently than is usually the case with property of this description. Most of the owners have been ennobled, but the titles have soon become extinct. Sir William Fitzwilliam, to whom the manor of Swarraton and the monastic residence of the Grange were granted by Henry VIII. in 1536, was created Earl of Southampton in 1542. On his death, in 1544, it passed to his half-brother, Anthony Browne, Viscount Montague. In 1557 Lord Montague granted the manor to William Denton and Henry Heighes. The new owners were immediately involved in legal difficulties, and eventually, in 1568, the tenant, Thomas Cobb, became seized of the manor. 1639 the Cobb family sold the property to Lord Henry Pawlett. In 1662 Lord Pawlett sold it to Robert Henley, of the Middle Temple. The descendants of Robert Henley, who were raised to the title of Earl of Northington and Viscount Henley, became extinct in the male line with the second earl. On his death, in 1786, the surviving sisters sold the Grange to Henry Drummond, a wealthy banker, and fourth son of Lord Strathallan, whose grandson, of the same name, sold it, in 1817, to another London banker, Alexander Baring, who afterwards became the first Lord Ashburton, in which family the Grange still remains.

In

It is recorded by the Rector that the Communionplate of both parishes was melted or stolen in a fire that burnt down the cottage of the parish clerk in 1850. He adds that "the sacred vessels of the present time" are of electro-plate. Cannot he bringhis influence to bear on the "noble and wealthy family" to provide more suitable and canonical vessels for the worship of God?

It is a sorry task thus on the whole to condemn a work so excellently and attractively printed; it is always pleasanter to praise, but justice to our readers demanded candour of treatment.

A CAVALIER STRONGHOLD. By Mrs. Chaworth Musters. Simpkin, Marshall, Hamilton, Kent, and Co. Pp. 397. Illustrated. Price 6s. This "Romance of the Vale of Belvoir," as it is termed in its secondary title, is yet another story of the times of the Great Rebellion. But there is no

Correspondence.

HOLY WELLS AND THEIR SUPER-
STITIONS.

SOME of the readers of your interesting legend of
Bomere Pool might like to hear that Commander
Cameron, in Across Africa, gives a somewhat similar
legend from Central Africa as to the origin of Lake
Dilolo. It is as follows:

"Once upon a time, where now stands the lake, there stood a large and prosperous village. The inhabitants were rich in flocks and herds, and passed their time in eating, drinking, and making merry.

"One day an old and decrepid man passed through the village, and stopped to ask for help and pity, as he was tired and hungry. The villagers took no pity on him, but pursued him with scoffs and jeers, and encouraged their children to pelt him with mud.

Hungry and footsore, he was going on his way, when a man, more charitable than his neighbours, took him to his house and gave him food and shelter.

"In the middle of the night the beggar aroused his host, and said: As you have done me a good turn, I will now do you one; but you must keep what I tell you as a secret.' He promised, and then the beggar told him that a storm would come in a few days, but when it did come his host was to make haste and flee away. The old beggar then departed. Two days after the storm came. Then the villager arose, took his wives, his slaves and all his property, and fled from the village.

"Next morning, where the village had been, there stood a large lake; and to the present day people camping on its banks or passing over in boats can hear the songs of the women, the cocks crowing and the bleating of the flocks."-(Across Africa, vol. ii., p. 171).

Similar stories are, of course, told of many other places, but to hear it from Central Africa is worth noting by the antiquary and folklorist.

17, Victoria Grove, Chelsea.

T. W. E. HIGGENS.

LOW SIDE-WINDOWS.

There is a fine specimen of two low side-windows in the chancel of Raydon Church, Suffolk. They are quite at the west corner of the north and south sides of the chancel. This church has no aisles, but it possesses a very fine chancel, almost as long as the nave, an Easter sepulchre in the middle of the north side of the chancel, and a fine piscina and credence, or what might have formed a double piscina, with a pierced trefoiled arch.

Referring to The Ecclesiastical and Architectural Topography of England: Part VII., Suffolk, published by Messrs. Parker, there is mention made of some good bench-ends with poppy heads; but the church having suffered from so-called restoration, they are all gone. The pavement of the chancel from the priest's

door to the east wall has been so raised, that there is only a foot of space between the piscina and the level of the pavement; a new and ugly window has been put in. The brackets of the rood-beam remain, and the staircase door of the rood-loft in eastern end of north wall of nave is left.

As to the low side-windows, each light is divided by a transom; the lower light in each window is now stopped up, and, judging from the outside mouldings, I should say that the lower light was not originally glazed, but had a wooden shutter. The sill of each window level, and would make a comfortable seat.

As to the use and object of low side-windows, is not their comparative rarity, when all the parish churches in England are taken into account, almost a proof that the probable use of them is not to be found in that of confessionals, for almsgiving, for lepers, for seeing the altar, or for ringing a bell at the elevation of the host? I would ask, is there any painting, whether in glass or miniature work, or engraving of any kind, which would show such suggested use? Have any foreign churches low side-windows? and if they have, what do foreign antiquaries say upon the subject?

The sanctus-bell, or the elevation-bell use, seems to me an improbable one, because in the ages of faith people would come to mass before going to work; in those village churches where mass was said daily the service would be at such an hour as would be convenient for the people to attend. In those days men found time to say their prayers in their churches, although they worked hard in the fields; besides, a little hand-bell tinkled outside a window would hardly reach the ears of men working one, two or three miles away from the church.

But although I do not think the suggested uses of these windows will hold good until a greater certainty has been found in some record or document, I confess I am at a loss to offer anything instead by way of enlightenment, unless the windows were put in for ven

tilation.

Far-fetched reasons lack probability, and since windows are built for light and ventilation, when seemingly put in not for light of necessity, nor for comeliness to pierce a blank space of wall, nor put in a place in order to agree with existing windows, why not fall back upon the simple use of ventilation, especially when it is found that shutters would suggest that particular use as possible, if not probable? H. A. WALKER.

East Bergholt.

In your September number there is a communication from the Rev. T. Auden in reference to a low side-window at Culmington Church, in Shropshire. I would remark that this window, which I saw a short time ago, is 18 inches square, and level with the churchyard; the latter has, no doubt, been very much raised in the course of years, but still the window must have been at an exceptionally low level. I notice that Mr. Auden says that this window is, "as usual, on the south side of the chancel." This, however, is not invariably the case. We have at Church Preen, also in Shropshire, a most interesting low side-window on the "north" side of the chancel.

This window is separated by a transom from an early English lancet of the same (thirteenth century) date as the other windows in the church; but it has this peculiarity-that the splay of the window on each side is cut away for a height of 4 feet, so as to form seats with an open space between, leaving ample room to sit facing the width of the wall, which is 2 feet 6 inches thick. The window is 2 feet high, and 16 inches wide; the distance from the floor of the church, 2 feet 10 inches. There has been a lattice to open, as the stone-work shows where the hinges have been.

It may be that this window was used for the purpose of ringing the sanctus-bell, as it is on the east side of where the rood-screen stood, and if so, there was ample space for ringing the bell either outside or inside the church. Or it may be that this was a leper-window, and that the seats were used by the priest when he administered the sacrament to the lepers outside.

Another explanation may be that an ankerhold existed (of which there is some slight tradition), and that the window looked into the cell, and enabled the recluse to see the elevation of the host, and also the image of St. John Baptist, the patron saint, and whose image appears to have stood on a stone corbel on the Epistle side of the altar.

As to the north position of the window, it may be explained by the fact that Preen was a cell of Wanlock Abbey, and that the south side of the chancel was occupied by the cell.

ARTHUR SPARROW, F.S.A.

Preen Manor, Shrewsbury.

INCENSE CUP.

Your readers, and Mr. Ward himself, may be interested to know that a similar cup, and more elaborate, to that described by him in the September part of the Antiquary is figured in Dr. Thurman's paper on "Ancient British Barrows (Part II., p. 83, Fig. 52), in the Archæologia, vol. xliii.

The cup was found at Bryn Leiont, in Carnarvonshire.

Will any of your readers compare Fig. 341, Jewitt's Grave Mounds and their Contents, p. 224, with Fig. 189 in Les Premiers Hommes, by the Marquis de Nadaillac ? It is extraordinary that a Peruvian cinerary urn should be an exact counterpart of an Anglo-Saxon one.

ARTHUR G. WRIGHT.

BEACONS IN KENT.

I shall be glad of information concerning a MS. map or chart which has lately come into my hands. It is titled "A Carde of the Beacons in Kent," and it is on paper water-marked G.R., surmounted by a crown. The size of the "carde" is II inches by 7, "the scale contayneth x myles," the rivers are very clumsily represented, as of extravagant breadth, and each beaconstance has the figure of a raised cresset. The stances are all inter-connected, sometimes with only one, sometimes with several, by straight lines, indicative most likely of relative visibility. Thus that at "fayreleigh" connects with those on "Dengenesse," Tenterden, and Dover. From London and Hampstead these presumable lines of sight run to Shooters Hill and on by Stone to Hoo, a few miles north-east of Rochester. Hoo is a kind of telegraphic junction; here meet lines travelling from every direction-from Crowbarrow, Brightling, and Dungeness, from Sandgate, Dover, and Worth, and from St. Lawrence, on Thanet Island, all along the south bank of the Thames. Perhaps some of your readers can furnish particulars of the Kentish beacon system, or refer to sources for them. The chart proves a very thorough preparedness, if the French or King James appeared on the seas, to send on the news to London in "twinking points of fire."

SCOTUS.

Manuscripts cannot be returned unless stamps are enclosed.

Foreign and Colonial contributors are requested to remember that stamps of their own country are not available for use in England.

It would be well if those proposing to submit MSS. would first write to the Editor stating the subject and manner of treatment.

Whilst the Editor will gladly be of any assistance he can to archæologists on archæological subjects, he desires to remind certain correspondents that letters containing queries can only be inserted in the "ANTIQUARY" if of general interest, or on some new subject; nor can he undertake to reply privately, or through the 'ANTIQUARY," to questions of the ordinary nature that sometimes reach him.