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features of interest about the church, which is chiefly in the Early English style of architecture, with additions of later styles. The remains of the domestic buildings are tolerably extensive, but they give tokens of comparatively recent occupation, which have deprived them of their former monastic character. The party next proceeded to Richmond, and visited the castle, with its fine Norman keep standing 100 feet high, the masonry as perfect as when it was completed by the builder soon after the Conquest. It is now occupied by the volunteers as a store-house for arms. Friday morning was devoted to a visit to Easby Abbey, founded in 1152, like Eggleston for Præmonstratensian Canons. Here the party were guided over the ruins by the Rev. W. Palmer, Vicar of Easby, whose lucid explanations were greatly appreciated. The parish church of Easby, which stands close to the abbey, is full of interest, notably so in the frescoes, which have been found underneath the coating of whitewash which formerly disfigured the chancel walls. subjects embraced the several events in the life of Christ, of the creation and fall of man, and emblems of the four seasons. On Saturday morning a beautiful walk was taken along the Shawl, a limestone terrace overlooking the Wensleydale Valley, and commanding extensive and beautiful views. Proceeding up the valley, a drive through Bolton Park brought the visitors to Bolton Castle, the place of confinement of Mary Queen of Scots, and soon to Aysgarth, whence train was taken to Hawes Junction, and thence by the Midland to Manchester.

The

THE KENT ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY holds its Annual Congress at Canterbury on July 21 and 22. After visiting the church of St. Alphage and the cathedral, the members will see the fine Jacobean panelling in Mr. Chapman's house, called St. Martin's Priory, and then the recent discoveries made by Canon Routledge at St. Martin's Church will be visited, and also the Roman remains in the ruins of St. Pancras Chapel. The new Lord-Lieutenant, Earl Stanhope, will preside at the annual dinner, after which an evening meeting will be held at St. Augustine's College, in the crypt beneath the library. At that meeting Canon Routledge will speak of three Roman churches in Canterbury, and Canon Scott-Robertson is expected to read a paper on the "Tombs of the Archbishops." On July 22 it is intended that visits shall be paid to the churches of Chartham, Chilham, Godmersham, and Waltham, and to the castle at Chilham.

もの

The Perpignan Exhibition, which was opened on May 10, has proved to be decidedly interesting. In the section of Sciences historiques M. Pierre Vidal, an able archeologist and author of various antiquarian works, together with M. Desplanque, the Keeper of the Records of the department of the Pyrénées Orientales, have brought together a valuable collection of ancient manuscripts, rare books, and archæological relics found in the vicinity. Among the objects of interest is a copy of Les Comédies de Térence of the end of the fifteenth century; "l'impression offre un peu le caractère des xylographes ou livres imprimés

sur planches gravées ;" there are also good specimens of eleventh and twelfth century missals well illustrated.

On Saturday, June 7, the second excursion of the BRADFORD HISTORICAL AND ANTIQUARIAN SOCIETY took place. Seventy members and friends joined in the expedition, and visited Woodsome Hall and Almondbury Church. The principal feature in the mansion at Woodsome is the central hall or "housebody," a noble apartment wainscotted in old oak, with huge fireplace, minstrels' gallery, and quaint windows projecting from an upper floor. The hall is rich in antique carved furniture, and contains numerous ancient warlike weapons and family pictures. A visit to Almond bury Church, which was very carefully restored about fifteen years since through the endeavours of the late Canon Hulbert, brought a pleasant day to a close. The Bradford Society has arranged excursions to the following places: On July 5 to Holker Hall and Cartmell Church; on August 4 to Whitby Abbey, Church, and Museum; and on September 13 to Aldborough and Boroughbridge.

We have received the annual report and transactions of the PLYMOUTH INSTITUtion, and Devon and CORNWALL NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. During the past year an unusually large number of lectures on interesting and various subjects have been delivered to the members; we note amongst others "The Monumental Art of the Ancient Egyptians," "Some Extinct Cornish Families,' ""Social and Moral Condition of Rome in the First Century," "The Rise of English Engraving," and "The Practical Aspect of Marine Zoology." The chief contribution is an excellent paper on "The Moorland Plym," by Mr. R. Handford Worth, which is rendered more valuable by the numerous engravings. We are sorry to hear that this energetic institution, which is doing such a useful work, is much crippled for want of funds. An attempt was made to consider if any steps could be taken to raise a sum for the reduction of the debt, but no decision was arrived at.

"

On May 31 the UPPER NORWOOD ATHENÆUM made an interesting excursion to view the remarkable monuments of "Kits' Cotty-house" and the "Countless Stones" under the able superintendence of Mr. Samuel Bowyer, who read an excellent paper on the relics. "Kits' Cotty-house is in the shape of a hut or sentry-box, made up of four large stones: two on each side are set in the ground and nearly upright, a third but smaller one supports them at right angles, and the capstone, which covers them as a roof, is that of the greatest weight and size, weighing, it is esti mated, over ten tons. The stone on the south is 8 feet high by 7 feet broad, and its thickness 2 feet, thought to weigh eight tons. The north rather smaller, the same thickness, but about 7 feet high by 7 feet, weighing about eight tons. The back or middle stone is 5 feet either way, about I foot thick, and might weigh two tons, not more. The historian

John Stow, in giving an account of the battle fought near Aglesthorp, now Ailford, in Kent, in the year 455, says: "There was slain in this same battell, Catigern, whose monument remaineth to this day, on a great plain heath in this parish, and is now corruptly called Cits Cothouse for Catigernus." The heap called the "Countless Stones,' as they cannot be counted, is similar to the perfect chamber of Kits' Cotty; it may have chanced to fall in through antiquarian research.

もの

On Saturday, June 7, the DERBYSHIRE ARCHÆOLOGICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY made an excursion to Wilne and Sawley. The party drove from Derby to Wilne Church, the interesting features of which were well described. At this place the old font, made out of the inverted base of an early Saxon cross, was an object of special note. The expedition then proceeded to Sawley Church where a paper, descriptive of its history and recent restoration, was read by the Rev. A. E. Clarke.*

Mr.

The first expedition of the SEVERN VALLEY FIELD CLUB for this year was made on Tuesday, May 20. The route was from Shrewsbury to Minsterley and thence to the Corndon. The party also visited the Hoarstones, a supposed Druidical circle, situated in boggy ground. Extracts were read from Hartshone's Salopia Antiqua, written in 1838. At that time there were thirty-two of these stones, averaging from 1 to 2 feet above ground; probably the original number was forty, corresponding with the circle at Keswick and the second circle at Stonehenge. Cooper gave an account of two other ancient monuments, lying in a line connecting the Hoarstones with the Corndon Mountain. These are the large circle at Mitchell's Fold, and the three stones called the "Whetstones," which are grouped together at the northern end of Corndon. It was suggested that the three groups were intended to represent a serpent, the Whetstones forming the head, the circle at Mitchell's Fold the middle, and the Hoarstones the tail, the connecting vertebræ being wanting; and it was supposed that these singular monuments were connected with serpent-worship.

Literary Gossip for Archæologists.

A NEW translation of Rabelais has just been completed by Mr. W. F. Smith, Fellow and Lecturer of St. John's College, Cambridge. No translation of Rabelais has been issued since that made by Sir Thomas Urquhart at the beginning of the eighteenth

*The Council of this society has addressed a letter to the Vicar and Churchwardens of St. Werburgh's, Derby, expressing regret at hearing of the contemplated scheme of alteration, and earnestly deprecating the demolition of the existing edifice.

century. The present work will consist of two large octavo volumes, the price of each copy being 25s. The publisher is Mr. A. P. Watt, 2, Paternoster Square, London, E.C.

The Rev. Marmaduke C. F. Morris proposes to publish a work on the Yorkshire Dialect, as spoken in the North and East Ridings. The ordinary language of the North-country people has undergone many changes during the last few years, and much that is interesting and worth preserving in our mother tongue is now disappearing. This is much to be regretted. Mr. Morris is endeavouring to collect all such relics of the past, which would otherwise be doomed to oblivion, and appeals to Yorkshiremen to furnish him with any lingering traces of bygone words, or peculiar Yorkshire phrases, sayings, modes of expression and grammatical usages. We hope that he may be

successful in his work.

Mr. William Andrews has in the press a volume entitled Obsolete Punishments, which promises to be an interesting account of the many curious punishments of bygone times. The book will include chapters on the pillory, curing scolds, penance in white sheets, the drunkard's cloak, the punishments of authors and witches, and many other subjects. It will be profusely illustrated, and brought out in an edition uniform with the Curiosities of the Church which is reviewed in this issue.

A new edition, limited to 250 copies, of the History of Temple Newsam, by Mr. W. Wheater, is now in the press. The publishers are Messrs. Goodall and Suddick, of Cookridge Street, Leeds. It is twenty years since the last edition appeared, so that the present re-issue is much needed; it has been carefully revised and augmented, and supplied with an exhaustive index. This work can hardly fail to delight readers of Yorkshire history.

The Spenser Society which was established in 1867, for the purpose of reprinting the rarer poetical literature of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, has faithfully carried out the intentions of the founders; forty-eight volumes of excellent type have now been produced. The Council feel that their work is by no means finished, and are confident that there are many lovers of the literature of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Carolean ages who would gladly join if they were made acquainted with the valuable and beautiful reproductions of the Society. A new series has been started, and a favourable opportunity to join is thus given to those desirous of doing so. The subscription is one guinea a year, which may be paid to the Treasurer, Mr. Joseph Thompson, Wilmslow, Cheshire.

A new volume of the Book-lover's Library will shortly be published by Mr. Elliot Stock, entitled How to Catalogue a Library, by Henry B. Wheatly, F.S.A. This manual of practical directions will probably be a valuable addition to this well-known series.

Reviews and Notices

of New Books.

[Publishers are requested to be so good as always to mark clearly the prices of books sent for review, as these notices are intended to be a practical aid to book-buying readers.]

SCOTTISH NATIONAL MEMORIALS.

Edited by James Paton. James MacLehose and Sons, Glasgow, Publishers to the University. Extra fcap. folio, pp. 360, 30 plates, and 287 text illustrations. Price £2 12s. 6d.

This sumptuous and noble volume is the outcome of the interest aroused by the historical and archæological collection which was brought together in the Glasgow International Exhibition of 1888. It was rightly felt that the collection was of far too important and national a character to be dispersed without any other memorial than the pages of the official catalogue, nor must it be thought that this volume is any mere account or picturing of a whole collection en masse without any discrimination. Everything has been examined carefully by experts, and not suffered to find a place in this volume if trivial or of local and limited interest. The editor has had the assistance, in special parts, of Sir Arthur Mitchell, K.C.B., Joseph Anderson, LL.D., Rev. Joseph Stevenson, S.J., John M. Gray, D. H. Fleming, Professor John Ferguson, LL.D., and of several other gentlemen, well known as specialists in their respective departments. The article upon old Scottish silver plate and its hall marks, by Mr. A. J. S. Brook, F.S.A. (Scot.), though brief, gives far more information than has yet been made known upon this subject, and is well illustrated by interesting examples. The paper on archery by the same writer is also noteworthy; the medals of the Royal Company of Archers are therein described and illustrated for the first time. That remarkable relic the Kennet ciborium is depicted in colours on the frontispiece to the volume, and has also two other plates of details assigned to it. The most valuable and interesting of the relics of Queen Mary, preserved by Lord Balfour of Burleigh at Kennet, is this splendidly enamelled copper-giltcovered cup or ciborium, which is said to have been presented by Queen Mary to Sir James Balfour. On the bowl are six medallions containing subjects from the Old Testament, and on the cover six similar medallions depicting events in our Lord's life, forming the antitypes of the types of the Old Testament. It is of thirteenth-century date. A far older relic of Christianity is the "Bachnell More," or pastoral staff of St. Molnag, a follower of St. Columba, who flourished at the commencement of the seventh century. It is here faithfully depicted and described. We wish we had more space at our disposal to describe some more of the varied objects of interest that are here so faithfully illustrated. The contents of the volume are most varied-prehistoric Roman, early Christian, and mediæval remains; historical and personal relics of Mary Queen of Scots, of the Covenanters, and of the Jacobite period; Scottish literature, from early Bibles down to Walter Scott; burghal memorials,

masonic relics, and beggars' badges; and Scottish life, in its military, industrial, and domestic aspects. It would be difficult to praise the book too much; perhaps its highest praise is that it is well worthy of its comprehensive title, Scottish National Memorials. It reflects credit on publisher, printers, editor, subeditor, artists, and papermakers; in short, on all concerned in its production.

LONDON IN 1890. Originally compiled by Herbert Fry. W. H. Allen and Co. Pp. 275. Price

2s.

This is at once the cheapest and the best handy guide-book to London. It is illustrated by twenty most helpful bird's-eye views of the principal streets, as well as by a map showing the chief suburbs and environs, and by a street-map of central London. This edition of a work originally compiled by the late Mr. Herbert Fry, has been well revised and brought up to date for this its ninth year of publication. The revision and enlargement have been done, we understand (though not so stated in the book), by the competent hands of Messrs. S. W. Kershaw, F.S.A., and A. M. Heathcote. The archæology seems thoroughly trustworthy. The reader of a handbook ought not, we think, to be able to discover the special religious convictions of the author or authors; but this is not the case with London in 1890. If any of our readers are curious as to the apparent convictions of the authors, whether High Church or Low Church, whether Puritan or Roman Catholic, let them buy the book and find out for themselves. A slight revision in this respect is all the improvement that we can suggest.

QUAINT LONDON. By "Old Mortality." Truelove and Shirley. Price Is. 6d.

This is a charmingly got-up little book, containing sixteen permanently printed photographs of interesting "bits" of Old London. Most of the illustrations are taken from the photographs of the Society for Photographing Relics of Old London, by permission of Mr. Alfred Marks. They include St. John's Gate, Clerkenwell; the Old Bell, Holborn; Lincoln's Inn Gate House; and the Water Gate, York House; as well as less known interior details such as Tallow Chandler's Hall, Dowgate Hill, and the Great Hall, Charterhouse. But the most delightful picture is that of Staple Inn Hall from the interior. refreshing sight of green grass between two of the busiest thoroughfares in London may still meet the eye of one who wanders out of the "hurly-burly" into the stillness of Staple's Inn, which resembles an Oxford quad in its peaceful calm. This happily-conceived booklet concludes with an etching of Crosby Hall, Bishopsgate. The letter-press, though necessarily brief, seems accurate and trustworthy wherever we have tested it.

*

The

NORWOOD AND DULWICH, Past and PreSENT. With Historical and Descriptive Notes. By Allan M. Galer. Truelove and Shirley. Crown 4to., pp. 123. Price 6s.

Hitherto there has been a complete absence of any monograph either on Dulwich or Norwood; Mr. Galer has worthily supplied this deficiency. The

threefold aim of this book is to relate in concise form the history of Dulwich, without the story of the college to overshadow the story of the village; to make a first attempt towards a history of Norwood; and to write a brief, relevant, and accurate life of Edward Alleyn, the founder of the college.

Of the large wood, Northwood or Norwood, to the north of Croydon, there can be but little to say, but that little has been gleaned and put together in an interesting way. Its position and condition, a century and a half ago from the present time, is made clear by a reproduction from Rocque's map of London and its environs, taken in 1746. The perambulations to the Vicar's Oak in Elizabeth's reign, Cromwell's seizure of the wood, the Horns Tavern, the Norwood gipsies, the mineral spa, and the present condition of the district of Norwood, are all faithfully set forth.

The manor of Dulwich was bestowed on the priory of Bermondsey by Henry I.; the few references to the manor in the priory annals (which are among the Harl. MSS.) are given. Edward Alleyn bought the property in 1606 from the family to whom the king had sold it after the dissolution. The old college was begun in 1613, but not formally opened till 1619. In describing the college chapel, Mr. Galen notes that it is inscribed with "a curious anagram in Greek." This is not a correct description. The words are the Greek version of Ps. li. 2, and form a palindrome inscription, that is, it is capable of being read forwards or backwards. Nor is it stated that this same inscription is to be found on several old English and Continental fonts. The story of the once famed wells of Dulwich, and of its various noted houses, is well told, and there is a good chapter on local celebrities. Alleyn's life has often been given, but this is the first time that it has been set out with clearness and accuracy, "with a due rejection of the many spurious facts that have obtained credence, owing to the spurious additions to the college manuscripts.' The volume is profusely illustrated; it is sure to be deservedly popular.

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VISITATIONS OF ENGLISH CLUNIAC FOUNDATIONS.

By Sir G. F. Duckett, Bart. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner and Co. Royal 8vo., pp. 52. The Order of Cluni possessed thirty-five subordinate houses in England, the first established of which was the Priory of Barnstaple. The VicarGeneral of the Order was, in almost every instance, the Prior of St. Pancras of Lewes. The Order of Cluni obtained from Gregory VII., who had himself been a Cluniac monk, special immunity from diocesan supervision, but its monasteries were regularly visited by delegated ecclesiastics from the parent house. These visitations were undertaken for the purpose of promoting uniformity in discipline, for the correction of abuses, for the reformation of morals, and for the maintenance of each convent's temporal rights. The visitors, selected from their own Order, were nominated yearly by the General Chapter held at Cluni. The General Chapter was composed of the heads of all abbeys and priories, attendance being compulsory under pain of deposition; but the abbots and priors of England, together with those of other distant provinces, were exempted from attendance save once in three years. Sir George Duckett has done

excellent service to ecclesiology in translating, from the original records in the National Library of France, the English visitations of 1262, 1275-6, and 1279, together with parts of those for the years 1298, 1390, and 1405. The first of these are the earliest visitations extant of any English houses. To these visitations are added an important ordinance, of the year 1247, regulating the Bede and Obit Rolls of the Order.

THE ORIGIN OF THE ARYANS. By Rev. Canon Isaac Taylor, LL.D. Walter Scott. Crown 8vo., pp. xi., 349. Price 3s. 6d.

That this account of the prehistoric ethnology and civilization of Europe is of much value and research is guaranteed by the very name of the author. Canon Taylor tells us that this volume does not aim at setting forth new views or speculations, but that it is rather a summary of the labour of many scholars, and a critical digest of a considerable literature. He has drawn largely upon the works of four German scholars, Cuno, Pösche, Penka, and Schrader; but as these are practically unknown authors, especially the first named, to the great majority of well-informed Englishmen, this book is for England an almost new revelation. Professor Max Müller's argument, first put forth some thirty years ago, as to a common primitive Aryan ancestry for Indians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Slaves, Celts and Germans, based almost exclusively on philological grounds, although at one time so universally accepted, has already been undermined, and Canon Taylor now blows it once for all to the winds. He proves to the hilt that identity of speech does not of necessity imply identity of race, any more than diversity of speech implies diversity of race. "The language of Cornwall is the same as the language of Essex, but the blood is Celtic in one case, and Teutonic in the other. The language of Cornwall is different from that of Brittany, but the blood is largely the same. Two related languages, such as French and Italian, point to an earlier language, from which both have descended; but it by no means follows that French and Italians, who speak those languages, have descended from common

ancestors.'

Canon Taylor's speculation as to the relations of the Basques and Iberians is quite original, and, to our mind, one of the most valuable sections of the book. But he is for the most part more at home as a destructive critic of mistaken theories of the past, rather than the builder of lasting erections. With some of his theories we are utterly at variance. There is nothing very original in making religion almost entirely a matter of skull formation; such reasoning is to be expected from agnostic professors and German rationalists; the originality comes in when we find these arguments cleverly marshalled by a canon and a rector of the Church of England. The awkward part of it is that such theories are in absolute antagonism with the mission of Jesus Christ to the founders of the faith, which was to be as wide as the world itself, and with the assertion of St. Paul that his message was as much for the Scythian as the Greek, as much for the freeborn Roman as for all the sweepings of the slave marts of every clime. But the missionary, according to the gospel of Canon

Taylor, would have to go about armed with a measuring-tape, and would have to first satisfy himself by the skull index whether there was any use in preaching at all, and then if he thought it worth while to make the attempt, the tape would tell him what kind of preaching would pay the best, for the dolichocephalic race is Protestant, and the brachycephalic race is Roman Catholic.

Valuable as this book is in many respects, its anthropology has to be received with caution. Canon Taylor, in his preface, speaks of Dr. Rudolph Virchow as "the greatest of the Germans," but he breaks away from him in some important particulars. As an instance of Dr. Taylor's occasional slips, from lack of wider reading, that vitiate some of his arguments, it may be mentioned that, on page 173, the controversy as to the antiquity of the practice of shaving is introduced in order to show "the way in which philological conclusions have been corrected by archæology." It has been contended that the primitive Aryans shaved their beards on the ground of the identity of the Greek Eupov and the Sanskrit kshurà, words which both denote a razor. Dr. Taylor, however, quotes with approval the statement of Helbig that the Sanskrit word only means a flint-flake for scraping hair off hides, as "it would be difficult to shave with a stone, however sharp"; and the Swiss pile buildings show that the early Ayrans were still in the stone age. This sounds very conclusive, only we happen to know, and Dr. Taylor ought to have known, that stone razors are even now in use, not only among wild tribes, but in comparative civilization. In the Land of the Quetzal, recently published by Mr. W. T. Brigham, the writer speaks of the strange experience of being thus shaved, stating that a little care was needed to avoid taking away the cuticle, but adding, "these stone razors are admirable substitutes for Sheffield steel, and are always sharp."

BOOKS, ETC., RECEIVED. Many antiquarian magazines have reached us this month, including several from America; the American Antiquarian and Oriental Journal for May is a specially good number. Two attractive little guide-books have just been published, Ficturesque Wales and New Holidays in Essex; these are both wonderful sixpennyworths, and the brief archæological information contained in them is accurate and careful.

We have received the History of Russia, Monu

mental History of the British Church, A Calendar of Wills relating to the County of Kent (1384-1559), the History of Okehampton, The Annals of the BarberSurgeons, and many others; but owing to pressure on our space, the reviews will appear in our next issue.

Correspondence.

LOW SIDE WINDOWS.

I AM glad to find from the numerous communications on the subject of the use of the Low Side Window which appear in the last issue of the Antiquary, that the interest is not only being kept up but is increasing; I therefore beg, as an advocate of what may be called the Hand-bell Theory, to offer the following observations, which, I trust, may strengthen the case of those who first suggested this view of the use to which these curious openings were applied.

Thinking that, perhaps, in the ceremonies of the Mass, as used in the Roman Catholic Church at the present day, some relic of the custom might be traced, I find that it is the usage to ring a bell three times during the service. First, at the words Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus, Deus Sabaoth, towards the end of the Preface; secondly, when the priest spreads his hands over the oblation; and thirdly, at the elevation of the host and chalice. The first and second ringings are made by the small bell, and the third on a larger bell or gong, and in places where they possess them on one of the bells in the tower. The smaller bell is used to give notice to the congregation of the approach of the most solemn part of the Mass; and I think it at least probable that such notice might have been given in former times from the Low Window, to warn those passing the church of what was about to take place within, in order that they might prepare to make fitting reverence and adoration.

As it is admitted that the ceremonies of the Mass (except in some small particulars) have been strictly retained, and are nearly identical with those of mediæval times, I think that the present custom of ringing the bells inside may have been only adopted for the purpose of secrecy in the troublous times of persecution. As to the various positions of these openings, it may be accounted for from the fact that altars were placed frequently in the aisles, and I believe traces of them have been found even in roodlofts.

To the objection that from these windows being so near the ground the sound of the bell could not travel, requisite warning to those at work in the fields at a I would suggest that the large bell would give the distance, or when engaged in the occupations of home.

What seems really remarkable is that what one would think to be a necessary adjunct to every church, is found in comparatively few; but the same may be remarked of aumbries, sedilia, Easter sepulchres,

etc.

In conclusion, I would venture to suggest that those who advocate any particular theory should bring to bear every circumstance favouring their special views, so that at the end of the controversy the different ideas might be tabulated to assist in coming to a decision, if such be possible. For an account of the theories which have from time to time

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