The Council of the Society are not responsible for any statements or opinions expressed in the YORKSHIRE ARCHEOLOGICAL JOURNAL, the Authors of the various Papers being alone responsible for the same. CONTENTS OF PART 67. THE SEAL OF POCKLINGTON GRAMMAR SCHOOL Aldborough, near Boroughbridge.-William de Aldeburgh, c. 1360 Gilling, near Helmsley.-Robert Wellington, Rector, 1503 Helmsley.-Crest of the Manners Family . Hornby. Christopher Conyers and wife Ellen, 1443 Roxby Chapel.-Thomas Boynton, Esq., 1523 Sessay. Thomas Magnus, Archdeacon of the East Riding, 1550 Palimpsest Portions of Brass to Thomas Magnus Sheriff Hutton.-Thomas and Agnes Wytham, c. 1480 Mary Hall, 1657 West Tanfield.-Thomas Sutton, Rector, c. 1490 Topcliffe.-Thomas de Topclyff and wife Mabel, 1391 THE HALL, BRAMPTON-EN-LE-MORTHEN INCISED SLAB FROM SELBY ABBEY CHURCH-JOHN BARWIC, Abbot 1522-26 THE FEAST DAYS OF ST. HILDA. BY MR. GEORGE BUCHANNAN. ON reading Dr. Leadman's interesting paper (pp. 33-49) I was struck by one or two matters as to which I should like to add a few words. First with regard to the Feast of St. Hilda, which is, as stated in the York Kalendars, the 25th of August. I remember more than forty years ago being puzzled, when copying for another purpose some ancient charters, by finding that King Henry II had granted to the Abbot and Convent of Whitby with other liberties "feriam ad festum S. Hyldae" (Whitby Chartulary, Surtees Society, vol. i, p. 148), and that this fair, when subsequently confirmed or otherwise referred to, was always associated with the Feast of St. Hilda. Now the actual fair at that time, though but the shadow of a shade, was regularly and formally proclaimed, and always on the 25th of August. Yet there was no trace of St. Hilda's Feast in the old form of proclamation, nor any mention in histories or documents of a change in the date of the fair. And although in Charlton's History of Whitby (p. 139) the author states that the fair is held "on St. Hilda's Day or August 25th," and adds the interesting statement that the date was not altered on the change of style, he says (p. 37) that "the Church of Rome has always observed and still continues to observe the festival of Hilda's translation on the 15th day of December." Dr. Young's History of Whitby, however, corrected Charlton as to the tradition of the Church of Rome, and explains how the mistake arose, that is, by mistranslation of "die quinta decima Kalendarum Decembrium," the date of St. Hilda's death as recorded by Bede (Young, vol. i, page 211). The date of St. Hilda's death (17th November) is thus restored as the date of her Feast. But Dr. Young also states (Ibid., p. 574), "There are two fairs held in Whitby, the one begins August 25th, said to be St. Hilda's Day, the other is held at Martinmas; each lasts three days, but very little business is done at either. The first is the regular fair, held by proclamation; the last has come in by custom." It is needless to say that when I had access to the York Missal and York Breviary in the Surtees Society's editions, I found ample VOL. XVII. R confirmation of Dr. Young's rather doubtful words above quoted, and that the traditional date of the fair, still observed for that purpose, was indeed the date of the Feast of St. Hilda, to which were assigned a proper mass and office. But in that case what was I to make of the positive statements as to the observance of the 17th of November? The answer is that there were in fact two commemorations of St. Hilda, one on the 25th of August, and one on the 17th of November, and that the former was the Feast of the Translation, the latter commemorating the death of the Saint. This is made clear by the Award of Henry de Percy, Earl of Northumberland (Whitby Chartulary, vol. ii, p. 501), in which the parties are said to have appeared “devaunt nous, avant dit Counte, en la feste del Translacion de Seint Hylde— cest assavoir le xxv jour daugst." Furthermore we find that the Feast of the Translation was termed "dies S. Hyldae in Autumpno" (Guisborough Chartulary, Surtees Society, vol. ii, pp. 213, 214, 220, 221), and that the 17th of November was called the Feast of St. Hilda in Winter, if, as seems probable, that was the date intended by the Grant in 43 Henry III to Peter de Mauley, third of that name, of a fair at Egton yearly for eight days, beginning on the eve of St. Hilda in Winter (Graves' History of Cleveland, p. 281, quoting Cart. Antiq., ii, p. 87). The Church at Egton was dedicated to St. Hilda, and the connection between fairs and the commemoration of the local saint is too well known to need comment. Graves adds that St. Hilda's Fair has been discontinued for some time, but there are four fairs which are still kept annually, namely on the Tuesday before May Day; upon St. Bartholomew's Day; on the Tuesday before St. Martin's Day; and on the Tuesday before the Purification. Through the kindness of John Foster, Esq., of Egton Lodge, I have been able to ascertain that these dates were assigned by a charter of King William III to Henry, Viscount Longueville, then owner of the Egton estate, which now belongs to Mr. Foster and his family. And it will be observed that one of these dates (St. Bartholomew) is the Eve of St. Hilda in Autumn, and another, the Tuesday before St. Martin's Day (that is November 23rd, the date still called Martinmas), must closely approach the date of the Winter Feast of St. Hilda, though it is not likely that anything but custom led to its selection by Lord Longueville. That Dr. Young is correct in stating that November 17th, that is the Winter Feast, the death-day of St. Hilda, is that on which she has been commonly commemorated, is clear from the authorities cited in the notes to Dr. Leadman's paper, other than the York Missal, and Breviary. These (and others) are also referred to in the notice of St. Hilda in the Menology of England and Wales, compiled by order of the Cardinal Archbishop and the Bishops of the Province of Westminster, published in 1892. The Translation of St. Hilda, commemorated on August 25th, is doubtless the translation of her relics, supposed to have been acquired from Glastonbury, as referred to by Dr. Leadman in his note on P. 44. If we had the "liber Tomae de Sancta Hilda," once in the library of the abbey at Whitby (Whitby Chartulary, vol. i, p. 341), we should at least know what was believed in the monastery as to the miraculous Translation, the commemoration of which seems to have overshadowed even that of the death of the Saint. Of the local veneration of St. Hilda few traces remain, but little things are sometimes worthy of notice, and one such matter may be mentioned. Children in Whitby used to be told, and may yet be told for aught I know, that if they wished for anything very much they were to cross their shoes towards the Abbey, before they went to bed, and they were sure to get it. Another circumstance which readers of Charlton and Young may observe is that the Saint is constantly called Lady Hilda. And by that title and no other she was certainly known to Whitby folk in days not distant. Compare the use of "Our Lady" as applied to the Blessed Virgin. Possibly also the same thing is suggested by the language of the legend on the Hartlepool seal, figured in Dr. Leadman's paper, which Dr. Young actually rendered by "Let Lady Hilda help her servants" (Young, i, 142). This, by the way, is evidently a rhyming "Benediction," as appears when it is printed thus :- "Subveniat famulis Nobilis Hilda suis." Compare a similar Benediction in the Aberdeen Breviary :- Perhaps, as the Fair at Whitby has now finally vanished, room may be found for a copy of the Proclamation as it was last used, if only for the sake of its quaint English. It will be observed that the |