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270 REGISTER AND CHARTULARY OF MERCERS' COMPANY, YORK.

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During his second year of office (1495) the Pageant Masters were John Spencer, Edmund Warwyk, Ric. Newton, and Willm Mulson.

Under Darby's rule are inserted several regulations, which seem to have been first made about 1443.

The first provides that every merchant of the guild shall answer to the fellowship "of a ton tight lyk as pe ship is ffreght, or els to the value of a ton tight in money, on payn of fforfature of ij. ton tyght, als often tymes to be raseid of the p'son or p'sones pt dose contrary to pis ordnaunce withoute any forgyfnes.

2. Every brother beginning to trade as a master merchant in Flanders, Brabant, and Zeland shall pay at his "hansing" two shillings at Bruges, Antwerp, Barrow, and Middleborough. And every apprentice at his "hansing" sixteen pence at the same places under a penalty of six shillings and eight pence.

3. Officers neglecting to exact the fines imposed upon defaulters shall pay the fines themselves.

4. Every member to attend the Hall meetings at the Beadles' warning before 10 o'clock in the morning, or be fined 2d., or, failing altogether and making no reasonable excuse, 4d. (To be continued.)

Proceedings and Publications of Archæological Societies.

[Though the Editor takes the responsibility for the form in which these notes appear, they are all specially con tributed to the "Antiquary," and are, in the first instance, supplied by accredited correspondents of the different districts.]

THE most striking feature of the last quarterly issue of the journal of the ROYAL ARCHEOLOGICAL INSTITUTE is Mr. Haverfield's "Roman Inscriptions in Britain," to which we have drawn more detailed attention elsewhere. Some of the fruits of the recent Gloucester meeting of the Institute are given, namely, the opening address of the antiquarian section by Dr. Freshfield, the opening address of the historical section by the Dean of Gloucester, a paper on Tewkesbury Abbey Church by Mr. Hartshorne, F.S. A., and a brief but good paper by Rev. A. S. Porter, F.S.A., on the ancient encaustic tiles in Gloucester Cathedral. The further contributions to this number are, "Roman Antiquities on the Middle Rhine," by Mr. Burwell Lewis, F.S.A.; "On a Hittite Seal from Smyrna," by Professor Sayce; and "Bosses of the Wooden Vaulting of the Cloisters of Lincoln Minster," by Rev. Precentor Venables.

In the Worcester section of the journal of the AssoCIATED SOCIETIES is a valuable paper by Canon Creighton on the Italian bishops of Worcester. From A.D. 1497 to A.D. 1534 the See was occupied by foreigners, who seldom came near the diocese. Such an arrangement seems very extraordinary to us, but it was probably easily accepted by a generation among whom the spiritual life was at so low an ebb, and who saw nothing strange in the fact that Cardinal Wolsey never set his foot in his own Cathedral Church.

The usual explanation has been that this was one of the gross usurpations of the Popes, who filled Eng. lish sees whenever they could with their own creatures, and that this was one of the many causes which brought on that long series of events which we call the Reformation. Canon Creighton has, however, succeeded in showing very clearly that this explana tion is by no means the true one. To use his own words:

"Doubtless it is an illustration of the unsatis

factory working of the machinery of the Church in a time when the Papal supremacy had ceased to be beneficial, but as a matter of history, the appointment of these Italians was due to the English King, and not to the suggestion, still less to the authority, of the Pope."

The Italian bishops of Worcester were really the diplomatic agents of the English King at Rome, and they were chosen simply and solely because they were subtle and clever men, who were able to cope with the shifty policy of the Papacy without the least regard to their fitness for the episcopal office.

Worcester seems to have been selected for the purpose of maintaining a non-resident bishop partly because of the great number of wealthy monasteries in the diocese, whose abbots and priors would keep up the external dignity of the Church, and partly because Henry VII. seems to have desired that the episcopal government of the Welsh Marshes should cease, and that their control should vest more directly in the Crown.

The work of the diocese suffered much less under this arrangement than is commonly supposed. The functions of the bishop were divided, strictly episcopal acts being performed by suffragan bishops, while the administration of the diocese was performed by a series of extremely capable men who filled the office of vicar-general.

A list of these suffragans and vicars-general is given, but in many cases it is very difficult to identify the titles of the sees of the former. They were all bishops in partibus, and on this head the Canon's words are well worthy of notice :

"The episcopal work proper was done by suffragan bishops, who took their titles chiefly from Oriental sees. It was one of the maxims of the Church never to acknowledge any diminution of its dominion. If some parts of Christendom had fallen into the hands of unbelievers, so that Christian bishops could no longer live and labour therein, still the bishops were always in existence ready to return when occasion offered. Meanwhile, these bishops in partibus infidelium were ready to help their more fortunate brethren whose sees were undisturbed."

The stipend of these suffragans was generally provided by instituting them to some living in the diocese -e.g., Ricardus donensis Epus was appointed by the King rector of Salwarp, an arrangement not unfrequently followed at the present day.

Our space will not permit us even to glance at the events here given of the lives of the Italian bishops of Worcester, and we would only commend to our readers this new light on the history of a difficult period, and beg them to examine carefully the accounts of John Hornyhold, the receiver-general of the see in 1532, which are in themselves an important contribution to the records of the diocese.

At the October meeting of the NUMISMATIC SOCIETY, Dr. J. Evans, president, in the chair, Mr. L. A. Lawrence exhibited three coins of Stephen, the first of which presented on both sides the ordinary bust of the king. The second was of the type of Henry II.'s first issue, the interest lying in the letters on the obverse, FNREX. A. On the reverse was ON. LIN, proving the coin to have been struck at Lincoln,

The third coin presented a new reverse type-a double cross confined within an inner circle, and in each angle a pyramid surmounted by an annulet. The obverse type was the same as Hawkins, pl. xxi., 276. Mr. A. J. Evans read a valuable paper on "Some New Artists' Signatures on Sicilian Greek Coins." In the course of the paper the author brought forward a variety of evidence to show that the received chronology of the Sicilian coin-types of the last quarter of the fifth century B.C. needed considerable revision, and that the quadriga in particular had reached a highly-advanced and even sensational stage of development as early as 415 B.C.

A discussion followed, in which Dr. H. Weber and Dr. B. V. Head took a leading part.

At the October meeting of the CAMBRIDGE ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY on Monday, October 20, 1890, Professor T. McK. Hughes, F.R.S. (president), exhibited some of the stakes and pottery from a wattlehut on Loch Maree, and (for comparison) a pile and some pottery from the Lake-dwelling of Robenhausen, and also a rude earthen vessel from Hauxton, which, in the texture of the ware and the plainness of the rim, much resembled the urn from Loch Maree.

Mr. Hurrell exhibited a bronze ring, a Roman bronze coin of the fourth century A.D., a local token, and the cruciform head of a scabbard, all found recently at Newton, near Cambridge.

The Rev. H. W. P. Stevens read a paper on the history of the parish of Tadlow.

Mr. J. W. Bodger, of Peterborough, exhibited and described one gold and two silver Celtic coins, found in Peterborough in 1886, associated with bronze coins of Hadrian, Claudius, Domitian, and others, also bronze fibulæ, men and women's finger-rings, bangle, bodkin with eyelet-slit in, pottery and tiles, intermingled with bones of ox, sheep, boar, hare, etc.; bronze of Philip the Elder, struck at Alexandria, found at Castor; bronze of Constantine the Great, struck at Constantinopolis, found at Castor; silver and bronze coins from Gallienus to Constantine the Younger, found at Castor; silver coin, Antoninus Pius, found at Waternewton; silver coin, Julius Cæsar, found at Connington; one silver and seven bronze coins found at Woodstone Hill; sixteen bronze coins, from Nero to Gordianus III., including one of great beauty of Faustina the Younger, found at Sandy.

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A very large number of members of the HAMPSHIRE FIELD CLUB visited, on Thursday, October 23, the Norman house at the bottom of Blue Anchor Lane, Southampton, which has just been restored by Mr. W. F. G. Spranger, under the direction of Mr. T. K. Dymond.

The Hampshire Independent, in reporting the proceedings, says that special interest attaches to this almost unique example of Norman Domestic architecture, from the fact that it has just undergone a process of judicious restoration under the hands of Mr. T. K. Dymond, an enthusiastic local antiquary. The premises having come into the hands of Mr. W. F. G. Spranger, that gentleman was fortunately persuaded by Mr. Dymond to put it into better condition, and to preserve it as one of the sights of the town. Under the careful supervision of Mr. Dymond, windows

which had long been blocked up with stone were made once more to let in the light of day, damaged portions were repaired, whilst inside the unsightly whitewash was cleaned off the beams of the roof and walls. The round-headed Norman doorway in Blue Anchor Lane has also been opened. There are three two-light windows, with central shaft, from the carved capital of which spring the small semicircular arches. The southern one of the solar was nearly in a perfect state, but built up. The companion window to the north was utterly destroyed except the turnings of the arch on the head of the window. Inside, the windows open into very deep arched recesses, the rear arches of which possess a fine Norman moulding, fortunately preserved in the two windows facing the quay. The similar two-light window facing the lane probably lighted a short corridor which communicated between the great hall (the part where the ancient fireplace is, now open to the sky) and the solar or withdrawing room; the inner arch of this window is not moulded like the others. The basement under the great hall was lighted by a beautiful little window, which was quite built up. It has now been opened. The roof of this interesting building, which is of chestnut, is confidently pronounced by Mr. Dymond and other antiquaries to be the original roof, but some of the party were of opinion that it is of a later age. There is not, as Mr. T. W. Shore said, another place in England where one can see so good a specimen of Norman Domestic building. It dates from the time of Henry I., and, though the tradition that it was King John's palace is of modern origin, Mr. Shore thought it was borne out by history, and he quoted some documents in support of this. Thus, in 1207, King John ordered the royal hall in Southampton to be repaired by the bailiffs of the town. And from the itinerary of King John we learn that he visited Southampton on many different occasions from 1207 to 1215. From the Close Rolls of Henry III. it ap peared that Henry, in 1222, addressed the bailiffs of Southampton, and ordered them "to repair our quay at Southampton, and to take care that our quay in front of our house suffers no harm." In 1224 the same bailiffs were ordered to repair the doors in other parts of the palace. It seemed to have remained a palace till, in 1338, the French burnt and looted Southampton. After that date it would have been deserted as a royal residence, and converted into a defensive place by the piers and arches outside, some of which come across the double Norman windows mentioned above. Mr. W. Dale mentioned that King Henry I., when he lost his son in the White Ship, himself reached Southampton in another ship, and learnt of the death of his son, possibly in this very building, in November, 1120.

The indebtedness of the Field Club, and of antiquarians generally, to Mr. Spranger and to Mr. Dymond for the effective way in which they had restored the Norman house was expressed by Professor Notter.

We hope that Mr. Spranger may be induced to increase the indebtedness of antiquarians to him by covering in the ancient fireplace, which is now exposed to the destructive agency of wind and weather.

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The sixth part of the Bradford Antiquary, being the opening section of vol. ii. of the journal of the BRAD

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FORD HISTORICAL AND ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY has reached us. It contains continuations from vol. i. of the three following papers by Mr. T. T. Empsall, "Burial Registers of Bradford Parish Church," Bibliography of Bradford and Neighbourhood," and "Land Tax for Bradford and District." Mr. Empsall also gives an interesting paper termed "Bradford during the Fifteenth Century." Mr. John Lister, M.A., continues the transcripts and translations of ancient charters from the Heningway MSS., and also contributes a valuable paper on the "Early History of the Woollen Trade in the Halifax and Bradford District." A few inscriptions are given at length from the "Bradford Parish Church." The transla tion of the earliest local wills of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries from the York registry is also continued from the first volume. Altogether this is a strong number, and consists of fifty-six pages of closelyprinted double-columned text.

The monthly meeting of the SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES of Newcastle-upon-Tyne was held on October 29, when "Notes on Dr. Hunter's copy of Bourne's History of Newcastle, with a catalogue of manuscript contents,' was read by Mr. J. R. Boyle. At the same meeting, Rev. W. Featherstonhaugh exhibited a copper grave chalice in his possession from Hexham Abbey, and Mr. G. Irving exhibited an early seventeenth-century cup of laburnum wood, with silver mountings. Four plates illustrative of the recent excavation on the site of the White Friars, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, have been issued to the members to complete vol. xiii. of the Archæologia Eliana.

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No. VIII. of the Transactions of the CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATION OF BRASS COLLECTORS has just been issued to members. Copies can be obtained of the hon. sec. (Mr. R. W. M. Lewis, Corpus Christi College) at Is. It is the best number that this spirited little society has issued. There are four plates. The first is to Robert Singleton and his three wives, 1472, Thornton, Bucks, the only example of a quadruple canopy. Two others are to Christopher Elcok, 1492, and Margaret Elcok, 1494, both formerly in St. Mary Magdalene's church, Bargate, Canterbury. To the disgrace of all concerned these brasses disappeared when the church was dismantled in 1871. A fourth plate represents a civilian, with gypciere and rosary, circa 1450-75, in the private possession of Mr. F. Stanley, of Margate; the owner is willing to restore it to the church from whence it came provided it can be correctly located. The remarkable correspondence between the Vicar of Godmersham and the officers of the C. U. A. B. C. is commented on in our Notes of the Month" of this issue.

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The annual meeting of the Powys-LAND CLUB (Montgomeryshire) was held at the Museum, Welshpool, on October 27, the Earl of Powis in the chair. The chief work in which the society has been engaged during the past year is the excavations at the abbey of Strata Marcella, which have been more than once alluded to in these columns. The Venerable Archdeacon Thomas read an interesting paper on the

small portrait brass of a vicar of Bettws-Cedewain, who died in 1531. The inscription records the building of the tower. This brass was restored to the church in 1868. The following is an Englished version of the inscription: "Pray for the Soul of Sir John ap Meredyth of Powys, formerly Vicar of this Church of Bettws: in whose time the Tower was built, and at different periods three bells were bought, and many other good works done in the said Church: The Vicar himself helping to his utmost. God be merciful to his soul. Amen. Dated in his lifetime in the year of Our Lord one thousand five hundred and thirty-one."

An interesting lecture, entitled, “Some Legends and Ballads of the County of Berks," was given at Reading, last month, before the BERKS ARCHEOLOGICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL SOCIETY, by Mr. John A. Brain. The lecture embraced many stories connected with Reading in the olden time. The combat between Montford and the Earl of Essex on the island below Caversham Bridge; the musical competition, "Summer is y-comen in"; the story of Henry VIII. and the sick abbot; and the amusing story of Cole, the rich clothier, were passed in review; whilst the ballads relating to Archbishop Laud, the "Reading Fight," and "The Berkshire Lady,' were read with great effect. This society has had the honour conferred upon it of receiving the Queen as patron, a letter to that effect, dated October 28, being received from Balmoral, by Rev. P. H. Ditchfield, hon. sec., together with a cheque for £5 as a donation to the society. The society has just attained its jubilee, having been founded originally in the year 1840 as the Berks Ashmolean Society.

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tribution to Irish Anthropology," with Illustrations, by William Frazer. "The Unfinished Crosses of Kells," by Rev. John Healy, LL.D. "Statistics of Ornamental Glass Beads in Irish Collections," by Rev. Leonard Hassé. 66 Description of Old Wooden Houses in Dublin and Drogheda," illustrated by A. Williams. "Fresh Facts about Prehistoric Pottery," by Rev. George R. Buick, M.A. "An attempt to Identify certain Sites on the Hill of Tara, and a Practical Suggestion," by Rev. Denis Hanan, D.D.; and "The Normans in Thomond" (Part III.), by T. Johnson Westropp, M.A. On November 12 the members met at the Chapter-house, St. Mary's Abbey, which was described by Rev. Dr. Stokes. This chapter-house, now used as the store of a seed merchant, is the only complete relic of the buildings of this old Cistercian abbey. St. Andrew's Arch, and other portions of the old city were also visited.

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On November 5 a meeting of the CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY ASSOCIATION OF BRASS COLLECTORS was held, when rubbings of the following brasses were exhibited By Mr. R. H. Russell, Trinity College: Balsham (John Blodwell, and a man in armour), Quy and Girton, Cambridgeshire; Chalfont and Chesham, Buckinghamshire; Laindon Clay, Essex; and Dartmouth, Devon. By Mr. O. Charlton, Caius College Balsham (John de Sleford), Cambridgeshire; Haccombe and Stoke-in-Teignhead, Devonshire; and Bishop Auckland, Durham. By the hon. corresponding sec. (Mr. R. W. M. Lewis, Corpus Christi College): fragments of some brasses in private possession in Norfolkshire, including some portions of the brass of Sir Hugh Hastings, at Elsing, in that county. By the hon. managing sec. (Mr. R. A. S. Macalister, St. John's College): Swaffham Prior, Cambridgeshire; Queen's, New, and Corpus Christi Colleges, St. Michael's and St. Mary Magdalen, Oxford; Abingdon, Oxfordshire; Willingdon, Sussex; Hitchin, Hertfordshire; Hunstanton, Snettisham, North and South Creake, Norfolkshire; and Glasgow Cathedral. A tracing from a brass formerly in Hordwell, Hants, was also exhibited. Particulars of membership in the above association, which is open to all brass-collectors without restriction, may be obtained on application to either secretary.

The third part of this year's transactions of the SHROPSHIRE ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, recently issued to members, contains a further portion of the late Rev. J. B. Blakeway's History of Shrewsbury Hundred or Liberties; also a paper and the architect's report on the crypt of Old St. Chad's Church, Shrewsbury, recently excavated, with six sheets of illustrations and plans drawn to scale.

Amongst the finds in the crypt was a very perfect Roman stylus, of bronze, five inches in length, several coins and Nuremburg tokens, some wig curlers of pipe-clay, and a number of old bowls of tobacco pipes.

The Council have also issued to the members a further instalment of the Calendar of Lichfield Wills and Administrations.

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Messrs. Asher and Co., foreign booksellers, of 13, Bedford Street, Covent Garden, announce an important work, edited by Ernst Curtius and Friedrich Adler, entitled "Olympia," in which is to be com prised the results of the excavations instituted by the German Empire under official direction. The work will consist of five quarto volumes of text, four folio volumes of plates (23 inches by 17 inches), and an atlas with maps and plans in folio. Those interested in the result of these great excavations should apply for a prospectus of the work. It is expected that Volume IV., with its plates, dealing with the bronze and smaller finds, which is to be first published, will be issued before the close of the year.

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A new series of antiquarian works is to be published by Mr. Elliot Stock, under the title of The Came: Library. Among the subjects of the earlier volumes will be The Antiquities of the Exchequer, History of the Old London Theatres, English Domestic Architecture, and a reprint of Camden's Britannia in handy form. The series will be under the general editorship of Mr. T. F. Ordish, F.S.A. Among the writers of the series are the names of the Hon. Harold Dillon, F.S.A., Mr. W. H. St. John Hope, M.A., the Rev. Dr. Cox, F.S.A., and Mr. G. L. Gomme, F.S.A. * * *

Mr. J. W. Linton has ready, for subscribers only, his elaborate work on "The Masters of Wood-Engraving; a history of the art, by exhibition of the choicest works from the earliest times." His examples for

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