Chapter XXXIV: Gilds of Middlesex (1)

THE Gilds of this county were chiefly, but not entirely, centred in the capital.

=London.=--In Chapter xiv. I have given an account of a Gild which existed in this City during the Anglo-Saxon period (A.D. 827-1013). It probably had many predecessors during the Roman occupation, but of these no sufficient details have come down to us.

I now propose to give some account of other Gilds in the City, naming them generally in the order of their supposed establishment. I do not here include the 89 gilds, which took the shape of City Companies for the regulation of trades, &c., of which 12 were known as the Great Companies, and 77 as the Minor Companies; while of these latter many have altogether died out. Concerning such of these as now remain ample details are available: as to the great Companies, in Herbert’s well-known History; and as to the others, in the newly-issued Report of the Royal Commission into the Livery Companies of the City of London.

_Gild of Parish Clerks._--Amongst the Minor Companies was the _Gild of St. Nicholas_, founded in the reign of Henry III. (13th century), which afterwards rendered important services to the City, by preparing the “Bills of Mortality,” from which the appearance of the Plague became manifest, and its progress in fatality recorded. These parish clerks (who were anciently poor _real_ clerks, _i.e._, clergy) formed a Gild, or fraternity, and so excelled in church music that ladies and men of quality on this account became members, and on certain days they had public feasts, celebrated with singing and music. Upon working days they attended the schools. Their ancient duty at church was to assist the priest at the altar, sing with him, and read the Epistles.

_Gild of the Glovers_, founded 1354.--This was a purely secular Gild. The Ordinances now before us purport to be made by the masters and keepers [or wardens] of the Craft of Glovers in the City of London, and the bretheren. The following is a brief abstract only, for the Ordinances themselves are very full and extended:

(1) Every brother shall pay sixteen pence a year, by quarterly payments, towards providing two wax tapers to burn at the high altar of the Chapel of our Lady, in the new Church-haw beside London, and also to the poor of the fraternity who well and truly have paid their quarterage as long as they could.

(2) If any brother be behind of payment of his quarterage by a month after the end of any quarter he shall pay 16 pence, that is to say, 8d. to the old work of the Church of St. Paul of London, and the other 8d. to the box of the fraternitie. Also, as often as any brother be not obedient to the summons of the wardens, or be not present in the “heveyns that folk be dead,” and in offering at the funeral of a brother, and in attendance at church with the fraternitie on the feasts of the Annunciation and Assumption, and others, he shall pay 16 pence in like manner.

(3) Every brother shall come to _Placebo_ and _Dirige_ in the “hevenys of dead folk” in suit or livery of the fraternitie of the year past, and on the morrow to mass, and there offer, in his new livery or suit, upon pain of 16 pence.

(4) If a brother be behind in his quarterage for a year and a day, and though it be in his power to pay it, he maliciously refuse, he shall be summoned before the official of the Consistory Court of London. [See chapter xx.]

(5) If any brother or sister be dead within the City, and have not of his (or her) goods him (or her) to bury, he (or she) shall have burning about his (or her) body five tapers and four torches, at the cost of the bretheren, provided the deceased have continued seven years in the fraternity, &c.

(6) All the bretheren be clothed in one suit, &c.

(7) The Masters, Wardens, and bretheren shall attend and hear mass on the feast of the Assumption, &c.

(8) Every brother shall keep his livery for four years, &c.

(9) The fee for entrance into the fraternity; also the form of oath.

(10) On the day of the feast, when the bretheren have eaten, they shall go together to the Chapel of our Lady before mentioned, and there continue the time of _Placebo_ and _Dirige_, and on the morrow shall attend mass of _Requiem_, and from thence come together to their Hall, on pain of 16d.

(11) If any brother revile another, he shall be fined 6d. or 8d., &c.

(12) All the bretheren, with their wives, shall go together to their meat the Sunday next after Trinity Sunday, &c., &c.

(13) Concerning the admission of apprentices.

(14) Fines for “contrarying” against the rules.

(15) Penalties for disobedience of rules and regulations as to apprentices.

These rules had been signed by twenty-nine brethren, who at the same time were sworn faithfully to keep and fulfil them.

_Gild of the Holy Trinity_ (Aldersgate).--This is one of three Gilds which were founded in connection with St. Botolph without Aldersgate, concerning which much information of interest will be found in Mr. Alderman Staples’ pleasant little book, “Notes on St. Botolph without Aldersgate:” London, 1881. Regarding this particular Gild, the duty or obligation of its members was to pay devout honour to the “five wounds of Jesus Christ; the five joys of the Virgin Mary, and the Three Persons in the Glorious Trinity.” A charity founded by this Gild exists at the present day, and is administered by the Lord Mayor and Recorder of the City.

_Gild of St. Katherine_ (Aldersgate).--Oath to be taken on entry, and a kiss of love, charity, and peace. Weekly help in poverty, old age, or loss by fire and water. The members’ payments were quarterly, 3d., women paying at the same rate as men. Members to go to church on St. Katherine’s Day, and afterwards choose officers [no feast mentioned, or apparently contemplated]. Burials were to be at the charge of the Gild, and to be attended by the bretheren. Any brother dying within ten miles of London was to have worshipful burial; all costs being made good by the Gild. Loans were to be made to bretheren out of the Gild stock, on pledge or security. Wax lights were to be found and used on certain festivals; and further services after death. New members only to be admitted by assent on the day of the assembly. Four men were to keep the goods of the Gild and render an account. Assent of all the brotherhood required to any new Gild ordinances. Each of the brotherhood was to have “a vestement, a chalys, and a massebok,” at the price of x. marks.

_Gild of Sts. Fabian and Sebastian_ (Aldersgate).--Same general features as the preceding; with the additional feature that the young were to be helped to get work.

_Gild of Garlekhith_, founded 1375.--This Gild was established for the worship of God, and to nourish good fellowship. All bretheren must be of good repute. Each was to pay 6s. 8d. on entry. There were to be wardens who should gather in the payments, and yield an account thereof yearly. A livery-suit was to be worn; and the bretheren and sisteren were to hold a feast yearly. Each member was to pay 2s. yearly. There were to be four meetings touching the Gild’s welfare to be held in each year. There were to be free gifts to the Gild by the bretheren of “what hym lyketh.” Ill-behaved bretheren were to be put out of the Gild. On the death of any, all the others were to join in the burial service, and make offerings under penalty. In cases of dispute the matter was to be laid before the wardens. Any member disobeying their award should be put out of the Gild. Weekly help was to be afforded to all members of the Gild of seven years’ standing, in old age and in sickness; also, aid to those wrongfully imprisoned. New members were to make oath to keep the Gild ordinances. Every brother chosen warden must serve, or pay 40s.

_Gild of the Blacksmiths._--The Ordinances before us do not bear date until 1434. They are made by the Masters and Wardens of the whole Company of the Craft “in the worship” of St. Loy. In all material respects they resemble those of the Glovers.

_Gild of the Shearmen_ [Clothworkers].--This is an ancient Company arising out of interests connected with the woollen manufacture. The Ordinances before us bear date 1452, and recite that “the wardens and freemen of the Craft for the more encrease and continuation of brotherly love and good example unto the honour of God, our Lady St. Mary, and all Saints, by licence of the Mayor and Commonalty the City of London form a religious brotherhood amongst themselves for the sustentation of a perpetual light of thirteen tapers to burn in the church of the Augustinian Friars in London before the image of our Lady.” This, however, seems to have been a fraternity inside the general Gild, the Ordinances of the latter being very minute in detail, but to the same general purport as the Glovers.

_The Gild of the Water-bearers._--This was formerly an important body in the City of London (as its counterparts still are in some of the Continental cities of Europe, especially Lisbon); but it dates back probably to a time anterior to that at which Peter Moris (the Dutchman) erected his water-works at Old London Bridge; and certainly before Sir Hugh Myddleton brought his New River water into the City, which was in 1620. The Ordinances before us purport to be made in 1496 by the Wardens of the whole fellowship of the brotherhood of St. Christopher of the Water-bearers founded within the Augustine Friars. There is nothing in them requiring special comment.

=German Gilds in London.=--But the most extraordinary feature was the existence in London, at a very early period, of three Gilds of _Germans residing and trading in London_. Speaking generally, their objects were good fellowship, and where need might arise, the succour of the poor members of the Gilds. These were:--

(1) _The Brotherhood of the Holy Blood of Wilsnak in Saxony._ The date of the formation of this Gild is not known, but its Ordinances were enrolled in the Commissary Court of London, April 1, 1459:

In the name of God that is Almyghti and of our Lady Seynt Mary his moder, and for the blessid blode of his sone Jesus Christ which is by all Cristen people wurshipped at Wilsnak, and opynly called the Holy Blode of Wylsnak, and of all the Seyntes of Hevyne, the xiiijth day of Aprill the yere of our Lord God Ml.cccc.lix. and the yere of King Henry the Sixt. xxxvij. A fraternitie in the special honour of the seid Holy Blode of Wylsnak and of all the Holy Seynts of Hevyn is ordayned founded and devised in the Chirche of the Crossid Freres [Crutched Friars] of London for to norish encrece and engender love and peas amonge gode Christen people in the fourme sewyng, that is to weten.

Then is set forth that the entrance fee was to be xx_d_., with other Ordinances after the manner of English Gilds of the period, and the following concerning the benefits receivable:--

Also, if any brother or suster of the same Bretherhede by fortune shall [fall] yn naturall sikenesse by visitacion of God so that he nor she mought labore and travel to helpe them selfe, the same foke by warnyng to the maysters for the tyme beyng the same day of the sekenesse comyng, or on the morow at forthest, shall have xx_d_. every wike sewing [ensuing] unto the same seke be recovered of the sekenesse and that trewly be payed at every wikes withoute any longer delay.

(2) _The Brotherhood of the Holy Blood of Wilsnak in Saxony_, held in Austin Friars. Date of foundation not recorded; Ordinance enrolled in Commissary Court of London, Dec. 8, 1490. It is recited in the Ordinances that the Fraternity with “oon aasent and comen accorde for the helthe and salvacion of our synfull sowles and for pease loue and charite to be kept with our even cresten, have proposed to holde maynten and to kepe a Fraternyte within the chirch and cloyster of the Freres Austyn within the Cite of London in the worship and honor of the foresaid holy blode,” &c. The Ordinances as to benefits to be granted to the brothers is as follows:--

And also whan eny of our brethern happith to fall sike of som sikenesse that comith of Gods hande, and not by no fawte of good governaunce and good gydyng, he shall have for his sustenacion after that he hath lien vij. dayes xx_d_. every weke as long as he lieth sike, and his benefacte and charite shall perseyve as moche the moost as the lesse, to thend this charite and almosse be not mynysshed be no wise, and whatever brother of the same brotherhod that shall owe to the same as moche as cometh to more money than iiij_d_. _ob._ he shall not have nor perceyve the forseyd benefacte and charite of the said Brotherhod.

The other Ordinances of this Gild are particularly interesting.

(3) _The Fraternity of Saint Katheryn_, which is stated to have been “founded and ordeyned by Duchemenne iiijxx yeres passed in the Crosse Fryers in the Cite of London.” This was enrolled in the Commissary Court of London Oct. 25, 1495 (10 Hen. VII.); and if it had only been founded by the Dutchmen eighty years previously, as its preamble recites, then it belongs to a later period than that of which we are writing. Another Ordinance, reciting that its earlier Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Rules had been “specyfyed and declared in Duych tong,” points, however, to a probably earlier origin. The names enrolled look remarkably English-like for even the fifteenth century.

=Staines.=--In 1456 a licence was granted to John Lord Berners, Sir John Wenlock, and other parishioners of Staines, to found a Gild or Fraternity in honour of God and the Virgin Mary, in the Chapel of the Holy Cross, in the Church of Staines; which Gild should consist of two Wardens and a certain number of brethren and sisters, who were incorporated by the King’s Letters Patent of that date. (_Vide_ Pat. 34 Hen. VI. m. 12.)

In 1548 the lands belonging to this Gild were valued at £11 17s. 6d. per annum, including 6s. 8d. for a Chamber called the Chantry Priests’ Chamber. (_Vide_ Chantry Roll in the Augmentation Office.)

These lands paid quit-rents to the manors of Grovebarns and Iveney Court.

(_To be continued._)

THE new parish church of Chiswick was consecrated by the Bishop of London on Saturday, August 2. The building, which occupies the site of the old church, has been erected mainly at the cost of one of the church-wardens, Mr. Henry Smith. The old tower remains as it was. In the reconstruction of the church, the architect, Mr. J. L. Pearson, has endeavoured to indicate the leading characteristics of the old church, which dated from the early part of the fifteenth century.

Autograph Letters.

No. IV.--BISHOP SHERLOCK TO G. SHAKERLEY, ESQ.

DEAR SIR,--I have often had a mind to write to you, since I heard of the great Calamity which happened to you and your family; but I always felt myself so affected with the circumstances of that sad Case, which came fresh into my mind on every occasion, that I thought it would be showing but little tenderness to renew your grief by expressing my own.

There is, in the misfortunes of life, a mixture of good providence, if attended to. In your Case, the escape which some of your family had was as wonderfull and providential as the Calamity was great and terrible.

Whenever such accidents happen the trial is very great, but it cannot but afford great comfort to a serious mind, to observe the hand of providence interposing to ward off that part of the distress, which of all others would have been the most insupportable. Tho’ exposed to danger you was not without help; though greatly afflicted, yet not forsaken; a consideration which will support the spirit of a Man, not only when his goods leave him, but, when the time comes that he must leave them.

I have inquired after you and your good Lady from everybody, who was able to give me any account; and it has been a great Comfort to me to hear that you support yourselves under this great affliction by reflecting on God’s great goodness in preserving the lives of yourselves and your Children. To be insensible of such Calamitys is stupidity; but to bear them and not sink under them is the spirit of a Man. To submit to them patiently is the spirit of the Gospel. I trust the God who has saved your lives, will also make them comfortable to you, by supporting you under this trial; That he may do so is my constant prayer for you.

I desire you would give my service to your good Lady. I know this trial did not find her unprepared, And I hope the many hours She has spent in serious and religious reflections will be a comfort and a support to her now. My service attends the young Ladies. I heartily rejoice in their deliverance. Poor Miss Fanny! how often have I thought of her.

My Wife desires her service to you and Lady and the young Ladies. She has truly been a partaker of the grief of her good friends.

I am, Dear Sir, your most obedient humble servant, T. SARUM.

To G. Shakerley, Esq.

[This letter was addressed to Mr. Shakerley, a connection of the
Wyan family, on the destruction of his mansion, Gwersylt,
Denbighshire, in 1738.]

Reviews.

_Early Church History, to the Death of Constantine._ Compiled by
the late EDWARD BACKHOUSE. Edited and enlarged by CHARLES TAYLOR.
Hamilton, Adams & Co. 1884.

MR. EDWARD BACKHOUSE, the original compiler of the work now before us, and of whom a biographical sketch is given, was a native of Darlington, and a member of the Society of Friends. He died in 1879. His object in commencing the compilation of this work is best told in his own words: “In second month, 1874, or about that period, I was standing painting in my own room, when an impression was made upon my mind, which I believed to be from the Lord, that I ought to devote my leisure in my latter days to writing a portion of Church history; especially with a view of exhibiting to the Christian world, in a popular manner, the principles and practices of the Society of Friends. So I forthwith began to explore Church history generally, because the history of Friends was quite familiar to me; and, ultimately, as I saw that I greatly differed from many excellent historians in the inferences I drew from many events in the history of the Church, I was induced to attempt myself to write a history of Christianity, which I thought might prove useful to some as exhibiting the principles and practices of the Churches, viewed from a Quaker standpoint, and compared as nearly as I could with apostolic precedent.” With this view he studied the Anti-Nicene Christian Library, and read the ecclesiastical histories of Eusebius, Socrates, Scholasticus, Sozomen, and Theodoret; and among modern compilations made use of Du Pin, Mosheim, Neander, Burton’s Church History, and some others. The work is illustrated by several photographs of Roman antiquities, &c., including the Arch of Titus, the corridor and staircase in the Catacomb of Pontianus, and fragments of sculpture of the fourth and fifth centuries.

_Les écrits de Leonardo da Vinci._ Par Ch. RAVAISSON-MOLLIEN. 8vo.
Paris: Quantin.

_Les Manuscrits de Leonardo da Vinci._ Publiés par CHARLES
RAVAISSON-MOLLIEN. Folio. Vols. i. and ii. Paris: Quantin.

_Conjecturers à propos d’un buste en marbre de Béatrix d’Este,
etc._ Par LOUIS COURAJOD et CHARLES RAVAISSON-MOLLIEN. 8vo. Paris:
Rapilly.

WE have received from Paris two most interesting works in connection with the great Italian artist, Leonardo da Vinci; they are the production of M. Ravaisson-Mollien, who has devoted all his time, his energies, and his learning to the editing of the Vinci MSS. preserved at the library of the French “Institut” in Paris.

It is unnecessary to go here over the ground occupied by our author in his preliminary _brochure_, and to give the history of the MSS. in question. Suffice it to say that at an early time they were scattered throughout the principal collections in Europe, and that the fears entertained by Leonardo da Vinci himself respecting the non-publication of his numerous treatises on art and on science seemed likely to be fulfilled. No sooner had death removed Francisco Melzi, Leonardo’s favourite pupil and friend, than the invaluable codices entrusted to his care were dispersed and mutilated; as even one single page would fetch a considerable sum of money, the MSS. were broken up into small fragments, so as to satisfy the curiosity of the greatest possible number of amateurs; and in order to obtain any given work in its complete form, it would be necessary to seek the elements of that work at Milan, Windsor, and Kensington. Numerous treatises have thus been lost or are perhaps buried under the dust of public and private libraries, and the materials now at our disposal represent only a small part of the whole collection, such as Francisco Melzi originally possessed it, and such as in all probability the artistic world will not see it again.

By a piece of singular good luck the “Institut de France” possesses twelve volumes of Leonardo da Vinci’s writings; they were indexed towards the end of the last century by an Italian _savant_, named Venturi, who had examined them carefully, and had even published some extracts from them; these volumes are lettered A--M, and have the great merit of giving the consecutive views of the author on the subjects which he had studied. This point is of the highest importance in the case of a man such as Leonardo da Vinci, who lost no opportunity of showing the interdependence of the several branches of science, and the light they all throw upon one another. M. Ravaisson-Mollien has accordingly undertaken the arduous task of editing the entire works of Leonardo da Vinci, so far at least as they are known to exist, and we earnestly trust that he may be able to accomplish his rather ambitious design.

The first two volumes of the entire collection are now before the public, and thus we are to a certain extent in a position to appreciate M. Ravaisson-Mollien’s qualities as an editor; we feel no hesitation in saying honestly that they are all that one could wish, and we do so the more readily because he has been attacked in the most unjust manner by M. J. P. Richter, whose English edition of the Windsor MSS. was brought out some little time ago. _Errare humanum est_ is a motto the application of which is especially true in the case of the Vinci MSS.; M. Ravaisson-Mollien himself acknowledges frankly that he may have, and that he has probably, been guilty of a few mistakes; but that the principles by which he is guided in his task are perfectly sound we do not entertain the slightest doubt, and without prolonging the discussion any further we shall merely refer the reader to the articles in the _Times_ newspaper for January last, the Italian _Nuova Antologia_ for October, 1883, and the _Journal des Savants_ for July, 1882.

Our business is more especially with the second volume of the collection, but it will not be amiss to remind our friends of what are the contents of the first. In addition to several passages already published but given more correctly here, and bearing upon drawing, painting, sculpture, and hydraulics, we have the commencement of a treatise on perspective, together with essays on movement, weight, percussion, projectiles, heat, light, sound, astronomy, cosmology, and geography. The Italian text, reproduced in _fac-simile_ by photography, is printed on parallel pages with a literal French translation, and an excellent bibliographical preface describes, not only the twelve codices of the French Institute, but all the other MSS., either complete or fragmentary, which are dispersed throughout Europe.

The second volume is the reproduction of Codices B and D; the former of these is generally regarded as the gem of the whole collection, on account of the beauty, energy, elegance, and variety of the sketches which illustrate it, whilst the latter seems to be a corrected or revised copy of one of the chapters in Leonardo da Vinci’s treatise on painting, a treatise in which some curious and valuable remarks on optics serve as an introduction to the author’s lecture (if we may so say) on perspective. Nothing but the actual inspection of this magnificent folio can give the slightest idea of the artistic finish which characterises it, and of the extreme variety of its contents. From considerations on morality, on the soul, and on the spiritual world, Leonardo da Vinci goes on to examine questions on architecture, sculpture, agriculture, roads, draining, &c. &c., he discusses the possibility of aerial locomotion, describes the systems of warfare adopted by the ancients, dwells at some length on the properties of steam, and explains the theory of the camera-obscura. The _fac-similes_ are 188 in number; a very complete alphabetical index, preceded by the errata of the two first volumes, terminates this second instalment.

Before bringing to a close this very imperfect notice we must mention a _brochure_ recently published containing, first, an article by M. Courajod on a marble bust of Beatrice d’Este, preserved at the museum of the Louvre, and which, if not the work of Leonardo da Vinci, was certainly executed by one of his pupils; secondly, an essay by M. Ravaisson-Mollien on the great artist’s botanical knowledge, together with a letter of M. Fillon treating of the same subject.

Let us, in conclusion, pay a just tribute of praise to the liberality with which M. Quantin, the publisher, has facilitated the production of this splendid monument raised to the memory of Leonardo da Vinci.

IN _English Etchings_, Part xl. (D. Bogue, 3, St. Martin’s-place), we have another of those beautifully executed “bits” of “Old London” which are worth preserving, before they are swept away to make room for “improvements.” The spot represented is that portion of Lower Thames-street opposite Billingsgate. The church of St. Magnus, close by London-bridge, forms the centre of the picture. This is one of Wren’s churches, and was built in 1676, the old church, which was founded at the beginning of the fourteenth century, having been destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. The etching is the work of Mr. Frank J. Short, and is most effective in its treatment.

Obituary Memoirs.

“Emori nolo; sed me esse mortuum nihil æstimo.”--_Epicharmus._

MR. THOMAS W. LIDDERDALE, for over thirty years an officer of the British Museum, and latterly a first-class assistant in the Printed Book Department, died suddenly in the Strand, on September 4, when returning home from his ordinary duties. Mr. Lidderdale was a scholar of rare attainments in Scandinavian literature, and particularly in the more contracted sphere of Icelandic bibliography.

THE death is recorded of M. STANISLAS GUYARD, a distinguished Semitic scholar. At the end of last year he was appointed Professor of Arabic at the Collége de France, in succession to the late M. Defrémery. His publications on the language and literature of the Arabs have been numerous; but to English readers it will be enough to point out his great article on “The Eastern Caliphate,” in the sixteenth volume of the new edition of the “Encyclopædia Britannica.” His interests, says the _Academy_, were by no means confined to Arabic. He had recently taken up with ardour the study of Assyrian. He shares with Professor Sayce the credit of finding the interpretation of the mysterious inscriptions of Van; and, to the astonishment of English students, he declared himself a convert to the theory of M. Halévy--that the so-called “Accadian” of the cuneiform tablets is no language at all, but only a secret mode of writing Assyrian. M. Guyard was assistant secretary and librarian of the Société Asiatique, and one of the four editors of the _Revue Critique_. He died by his own hand at Paris, in his forty-first year.

MR. E. A. ROY, Assistant-Keeper of the Printed Books in the Library of the British Museum, died on August 14, aged 64. Mr. Roy had been employed at the British Museum since 1841, and was appointed by Mr. Winter Jones, the Principal Librarian, in 1871, to the post of Assistant-Keeper of Printed Books, a post then specially created for an officer charged with the superintendence and acceleration of the progress of the catalogue of books and final revision of the titles.

MR. HENRY G. BOHN, F.S.A., the oldest bookseller and publisher, and himself the author of sundry “Handbooks” of London, of Games, &c., died at the age of 88, at Twickenham, on the 22nd August. He first brought his name into notice by his “Guinea Catalogue of old English Books,” which he printed in 1841; to our readers he will be best known by his “Historical” and “Antiquarian” Libraries.

THE death is announced of Mr. JAMES NAPIER, of Stonehaven, author of two local historical works, entitled “Stonehaven and its Historical Associations,” and “The Honours of Scotland,” the latter being an account of the preservation of the Scottish regalia when Dunottar Castle was besieged by the army of the Commonwealth in 1651.

Meetings of Learned Societies.

METROPOLITAN.

THE BRITISH ARCHÆOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION.

THE forty-first annual congress of this Association commenced at Tenby, on Tuesday, September 2, the Bishop of St. David’s presiding. The reception of the members, by the Mayor and Corporation of Tenby, took place at the Town-hall, where the maces and regalia of Tenby, Pembroke, and Haverfordwest, which were exhibited, were made the subject of some observations by Mr. George Lambert, F.S.A., who said that the last two were of the reign of Charles I., while those of Tenby were later. All three, he said, were in poor condition. The Bishop then delivered his inaugural address, in the course of which he expressed his belief that since he took part in a meeting of the Cambrian Archæological Society at Tenby some twenty years ago antiquarian research had begun to take rank as a science, having ceased to content itself with collecting dry facts and having begun to systematise them in an orderly manner. He drew attention to the character of the county which they were about to visit, which, though it might be somewhat poor in its churches, was so rich in castles that it might almost be styled their paradise. These castles were well worthy of attention, for even in their ruins they served to illustrate history, showing, as they did, that the feudal nobles who inhabited them were almost princes in their independence, like those of the northern borderland, and for the same reason--namely, their great distance from the central seat of royal authority. He ended his address by some excellent remarks on the five leading eras to which the antiquities of Pembrokeshire might be referred--the pre-historic, the Roman, the Anglo-Saxon, the mediæval, and the post-Reformation periods respectively; adding, at the same time, some remarks upon his own cathedral of St. David and its surroundings, its peculiar grandeur and charm of grace, instancing it and Bishop Gower’s Palace close by as the finest specimens of mediæval architecture, ecclesiastical and domestic, to be seen in the Principality.

The rest of the afternoon was spent by the members of the congress in the inspection of the various objects of antiquarian interest in which the town abounds, notably its ancient walls, which, if they are not so strong or so ancient as those of York, are of a good and original type. They are fairly perfect on the western and northern sides of the town, and probably were never built on the east and south sides, where the cliffs, rising abruptly out of the sea, were a sufficient protection. The leading features of these fortifications were explained by Mr. Edward Laws, a local antiquary, who has acted as local secretary to the present congress, and has the antiquities of Tenby at his fingers’ ends. The company also inspected several arched vaults, Gothic windows, ornamental chimneys, and other architectural details in various houses in the town. They also visited the local museum, where the civic charters of Tenby and other curious specimens of antiquarian lore were on view. These found an expounder in Mr. Walter De Gray Birch, of the British Museum, who pronounced them far above the average in interest, though not in good preservation. At the church the party were met by the rector, the Rev. G. Huntington, who pointed out to them a number of fine effigies and other monuments, especially the curiously sculptured alabaster memorial to John and Thomas White, enterprising and opulent merchants of the town, one of whom was of great service to Henry VII., when he was only Earl of Richmond, in enabling him to make his escape by sea to France--a service for which he was afterwards rewarded by a Royal grant of land. Amongst the other tombs that were inspected was that of William Risam (A.D. 1633), in the attitude of prayer; that of Walter Vaughan, of Dunraven, a noted wrecker; and, perhaps the most interesting of all, a marble effigy of a skeleton in a recess in the wall near the north door--probably erected by a priest as a _memento mori_. The curious figures supporting the roof of the chancel, the ogee arch over the western doorway, the old aumbries, the fine wooden roof, and entrance to the rood-screen, were all much admired, as were also the remains of a Carmelite priory adjacent to the west end of the fabric. These were commented on by the Rector and by Mr. Loftus Brock, who gave good reasons for believing that the church was erected in detail at various dates, as the necessity for enlargement arose, and stated that St. Mary’s, Tenby, was not only one of the finest of Pembrokeshire churches, but also a very excellent example of what a town church ought to be. Before leaving the church the Bishop moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Brock for his valuable and most suggestive paper. The day’s proceedings were brought to a close by a dinner at the Temperance Hall, at which nearly a hundred sat down.

On Wednesday, at Brownslade, their first halting-place, through the kindness of the Hon. Colonel Lambton, a raised tumulus, which had long been suspected to be a barrow, was opened, and at a distance of little more than 2 ft. below the turf a variety of human bones were brought to light, and, amongst others, the skeleton of a very tall man, which was laid bare before the eyes of the assembled congress, the rough stones which had covered the bones being carefully removed. As the body lay exactly east and west, it was surmised that it must be that of a Christian; and, if so, then it clearly must be of post-Roman date. This supposition was confirmed by the discovery of some crosses and other emblems of Christianity being found among the bones in the neighbouring graves, which were grouped thickly around. In some of these the bones were thrown in apparently at random, and others were found in a crawling posture, so that in all probability the cemetery had been used for heathen interments before the Christians made use of it. At a short distance to the north were seen the _débris_ of what was thought, from its orientation, to have been a chapel or church, though the masonry showed marks of Roman mortar and handiwork. Between the church and the above-mentioned tumulus the surface of the ground is very uneven, rising every here and there into hillocks, and it was thought probable that further excavations, if carried out, would probably reveal here the existence of an early British village. At Brownslade Mr. E. Laws and Mr. Loftus Brock and the Dean of St. David’s acted as interpreters and guides. The dean also accompanied the party to the next halting-place, the church of Castle Martin, a miniature reproduction in some respects of St. David’s Cathedral. Here the dean drew the attention of the congress to the south porch, in which were the remains of what certainly looks like a rood-loft, though why a rood-loft should be introduced into a porch it is not easy to determine. The Norman font, the tall slim tower, and other features of the church were much admired. The visitors also inspected the old vicarage, adjoining the church, now inhabited as a cottage. In it they saw a pillar of apparently Norman date, and having on its capital grotesque sculptures.

Afterwards the party drove on, under the guidance of Mr. E. Scott, to Angle, or Nangle, a village prettily situated on an arm of Milford Haven, and famous as having been once the home of Giraldus Cambrensis. Here they were shown the remains of a curiously fortified rectory-house (not unlike one of the smaller “Peel” castles of the northern border counties), consisting of a tower with Gothic windows, and elegantly adorned with carvings. Close by it is a round dovecote, probably coeval with the rectory, and dating from the Edwardian era. They also inspected a little detached mortuary chapel, with a crypt below, which stands in the churchyard a little to the north of the sacred edifice. On their way thence to Ross-Crowther the party visited a curious cromlech on Newton Burrows. At Ross-Crowther itself they were received by the rector, the Rev. Mr. Scott, who entertained the whole party at tea in his garden. He also showed them a curiously engraved stone (possibly of Roman origin) which is worked into the wall at the entrance of the churchyard, and a fine stone cross in the churchyard, remarkable as still having a perfect cavity in which money was dropped as offerings to the preacher. The altar slab, the low-browed arches, the font, and other portions of the church were much admired, as also was the “sanctus” bell, which still hangs outside the roof at the eastern end of the nave.

The party walked across the fields from the rectory in order to visit the fortified manor-house of Jestington, or Eastington, one of the most singular structures in this part of Wales. It is remarkable for its external staircase of stone, and for the curious patterns in which its stone floor is laid down. From Eastington the drive was made on the return journey to Pembroke, whence the members of the Congress were conveyed by train to Tenby. Owing to the late hour of their return only one paper was read at the evening meeting--namely, by Mr. Arthur Cope, upon the subject of “Little England beyond Wales.” The reading of this paper was followed by an animated discussion, in which Mr. G. Lambert, Mr. E. Loftus Brock, and other gentlemen took part.

Thursday was devoted to a long drive by carriages to Manorbeer Castle and Lamphey Palace. On their way to the former they paid a visit to Lydsted, a quaint little place on the coast, where their attention was attracted by some curious ancient specimens of domestic architecture. At Manorbeer Mr. E. Loftus Brock explained all the details of this most interesting structure, more remarkable for its picturesque position at the head of an inland bay than for its strength, as it is commanded on almost every side by hills which would place it at the mercy of heavy cannon. The castle is approached by a drawbridge, which spans a moat now dry. Crossing this and passing through the fortified entrance gateway, the visitor finds himself in the outer bailey, with the windows of the chapel, the hall, the kitchen, and the other domestic offices facing him. His attention cannot fail to be arrested by the external stone staircases which lead up to these rooms. Between the hall and the chapel is a large apartment, which probably was used as a drawing-room. Here, as in the chapel, the vaulting of the roof remains, as also do the chimneys in the hall; the dais also can be traced, and the stairs leading up from the kitchen are nearly perfect. Much has been done of late years to show the proportions of the chapel by removing the bricks and plaster with which its chancel windows were blocked up. The walls are almost entire, and so are the ramparts which run round them internally, thus placing both ends of the castle in immediate communication with each other, and both with the centre--an arrangement very useful in the time of constant wars and forays. Mr. Brock was able to show that the walls were of different date, the original Norman walls having been raised, apparently twice, in order to secure additional defence. Some controversy arose at the end of Mr. Brock’s remarks as to the meaning of the latter portion of the word “manorbeer,” and Sir James Picton, suggested that as the castle was under the Edwards the property of the family of Barry, or Berry, of which Giraldus Cambrensis was a member, it might mean the manor house of the Berrys; but this was negatived by the Vicar, the Rev. A. H. Wratislaw, who stated that in old college documents there was no reference to the Barry family, and that there is still in the parish a farm termed Beer, to which possibly the lands now covered by the castle belonged. On leaving the castle the party proceeded to the church, which stands on a lofty eminence looking down upon the castle and the sea. The many singular points in its structure, its utter irregularity of plan, the strange, heavy arches on either side of its nave, the large rood-loft in the north aisle, and the equally large “hagioscope” in the south aisle, and the knightly figure in armour on the north side of the communion rails, were all in turn commented upon by the Rev. Mr. Wratislaw in an address which he delivered in the nave. The party next hastily inspected the ruins of the old priory and the old rectory house adjoining the church on the south, and then proceeded on foot along the edge of the cliffs to see a cromlech, which is famous throughout the neighbourhood. It much resembles those seen in Cornwall, consisting of two short upright stones, supporting another flat stone of larger size. This was probably used for the purposes of sepulture in prehistoric times. Returning to the village the party took their luncheon in the schoolroom, which was placed at their disposal by the Vicar. After this they drove on in their brakes and waggonettes to Hodgeston, where they inspected the church, and duly admired the richly-carved sedilia, piscina, and decorated chancel, for which it is famous among Pembrokeshire churches. From Hodgeston their route led them to Lamphey, one of several palaces once belonging to the see of St. David’s, though separated from it by Henry VIII. at the Reformation, and since allowed to go to ruin by the Devereuxes, to whom it was first granted, and by subsequent owners down to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, to whom it now belongs. The old hall, with its long and fine arcade of windows--an emulation, or rather a reproduction on a smaller scale, of Bishop Gower’s Palace of St. David’s--and the chapel, with its elegant east window, were both much admired, and great regret was expressed at the ruin caused by courtiers to sacred buildings which the ancient Church did its best to preserve. From Lamphey the return journey was made along the ridgway to Tenby, but in their way back the archæologists paid a short and hasty visit to Penally Abbey, only a small portion of which--namely, St. David’s Chapel--now remains. It stands in private grounds, and the chapel is now a fernery, of which the gardener is very proud. The church, which is small, and has lately been renovated and adorned with painted windows, was much admired, and so were the crosses in the churchyard. The party reached Tenby between seven and eight o’clock, and at the evening meeting papers were read by Sir James Picton on “Place Names and their Teachings, especially with reference to Pembrokeshire,” and by Mr. Edward Laws on “The Local Ethnology of the District.” The former paper gave rise to a long and interesting discussion.

On Friday the archæologists had a long and pleasant day. Reaching Pembroke by special train soon after ten o’clock, they found their carriages ready to convey them to the Stack Rocks and to Stackpole Court, Lord Cawdor’s noble seat, near the southern coast of Pembrokeshire. They reached the cliffs in good time, and saw them in their entire stretch from Linney Head to St. Govan’s Head, and were shown in turn the Caldrons, Bullslaughter Bay, the Hunter’s Leap, and the other points which are so familiar to tourists in these parts. The sea was quite calm, and the sky was bright, so that the party were specially favoured in point of weather. They were most pleased, however, with St. Govan’s Chapel, which is situated about half-way down the cliffs in a narrow gorge, which it almost entirely blocked up. Here it is said that St. Govan was miraculously brought, and still more miraculously preserved from his enemies, and here he spent many years in fasting and prayer. The rooms which served as his dwelling and his oratory are partly hewn out of the solid rock, and partly built into it and on it. The window is primitive in its simplicity, and the roof with its little bell turret above is all that shows us now that it was a chapel once. Close by it and almost forming part of it is a rock, in which there is a hollow cavity just large enough for a person to stand in it; and there is a firm and fixed belief in the neighbourhood that whoever, whilst inside of it, makes a wish, turning himself or herself, as the case may be, round three times, will see that wish gratified within the next twelvemonth. From St. Govan’s Head the party passed along the cliff, inspecting very briefly a Danish encampment which occupies one of the bold headlands close by. In their way from St. Govan’s to Stackpole the archæologists paid a visit to Bosherston Church, where the tall tapering tower and the interior monuments, including two recumbent figures, a knight and a lady in stone, under noble canopies, were much admired. The church in other respects scarcely differs from the ordinary type so common all over the southern portion of Pembrokeshire. From Bosherston they drove on to Stackpole Court, the seat of Lord Cawdor, where they were not sorry to find luncheon awaiting them. Some of the party were content to inspect the state rooms of this lordly mansion, and to admire the family portraits by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Romney, and Sir Thomas Lawrence, and the stands of arms which were used by the late Lord Cawdor’s regiment of militia in repelling the descent of the French troops at Fishguard, or taken from their prisoners. Meantime the more adventurous portion of the party walked across the park, under the guidance of Colonel and Lady Victoria Lambton, to inspect the site of a supposed pre-historic British village on the high ground about half-way between the Court and the sea cliffs. The remains are very irregular in plan, and from what is seen above ground it is difficult to make out their use, for they are scarcely strong enough to support roofs, and so could hardly serve for the purpose of domestic life. It was thought by some of those present that they were intended as places of safety for their oxen and flocks, and that the sites of their dwellings were a little further towards the sea. The subject, however, is reserved for future discussion, as soon as some further excavations can be made by Lord Cawdor, Colonel Lambton, and Mr. E. Laws. The large quantities of bones, burnt and calcined, of flints cut for arrow-heads, &c., found just under the turf led the archæologists to believe that further excavations would probably be found productive of satisfactory results; and one thing was regarded as certain--namely, that in very distant ages these bleak and barren sea-cliffs bristled with a native population. In returning through the park the party were shown some specimens of a breed of white cattle which are said to have been here from the Danish and British times, not unlike those at Chillingham Castle, in Northumberland, but smaller and not so fierce. The return drive was accomplished in good time to Pembroke, the party being able _en route_ just to take a hasty glance at Cheriton Church, which has been lately restored by Lord Cawdor, and is remarkable for the noble monuments, under sculptured canopies, which it contains. They much admired the monument of Sir Elias de Stackpole, who took the cross and went off to Palestine, being led thereto by the preaching of Archbishop Baldwin; and also an ivy-crowned stone cross, which stands in the churchyard, apparently unmutilated. The papers read at the evening meeting in the Town-hall, Tenby, were two--the first by Mr. Thomas Morgan on “The Plantagenets,” and the other on “The Flemings in England and their Architecture,” by the Rev. Osborn Allen. The latter was followed by a long and interesting discussion.